Direct Stimulation of Bladder Pelvic Nerve Using Battery-Free Neural Clip Interface

Abstract

This paper reports direct stimulation of bladder pelvic nerve using a battery-free neural clip interface. We implanted a flexible neural clip interface combined with a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) on a bladder pelvic nerve in rats to directly modulate bladder functions for the first time. The stimulation parameters such as currents, pulse width, and charges generated by the TENG were characterized. In an in vivo experiment, different numbers of pulses were applied to stimulate the pelvic nerve while monitoring changes in bladder pressure and the occurrence of micturition. The bladder contraction with micturition was observed for all experiments, except when applying a single pulse for the stimulation. The results demonstrate that this technology may potentially be used for direct modulation of bladder function.