Sensor that can be swallowed deploys in stomach to monitor intestinal health

The swallowable sensor is deployed inside the stomach and non-invasively records nervous system signals to decipher a person’s digestive and intestinal health.

The pill-sized capsule contains an elongated sensor that expands to fit the lining of the stomach. In experiments with pigs, the device accurately measured the electrical activity of stomach cells, which control the contraction of smooth muscle to digest food. Ultimately, the device could help diagnose gastrointestinal disorders such as gastroparesis, paralysis of the stomach, and chronic indigestion.

“We have very good tools to measure the heart, but we don’t have good tools to measure the gastrointestinal tract,” he says. Giovanni Traverso at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He likens this innovation to an electrocardiogram, which tracks the heart’s electrical activity.

Because there is no equivalent to an electrocardiogram in the intestines, doctors must either surgically implant the electrodes or insert them endoscopically through an opening in a sedated patient’s body, he said. Adam Gierachis also at MIT and is part of the research team.

Traverso and his colleagues have developed an ingestible “MiGUT” device to monitor the enteric nervous system, which is made up of hundreds of millions of neurons, without invasive surgery. The device’s 25-centimeter-long ribbon-like sensor contains gold electrodes and is housed within a 3D-printed resin capsule. Seal the hole in the capsule with water-soluble tape. When the tape comes into contact with the gastric fluids in the stomach, it melts and spreads out the sensor.

“I always like to think about how this pill that you take could one day be shipped the same day by Amazon and you wouldn’t even have to come to the hospital,” Gierach says.

MiGUT tablets are not yet at that stage. The researchers sedated a live pig and inserted the MiGUT endoscopically, positioning it precisely in the stomach. This initial test showed that the capsule and folded ribbon could pass through the pig’s gastrointestinal system without causing obstruction.

The researchers also clipped the device to the pig’s stomach wall for several days. Therefore, MiGUT was able to monitor electrical activity in the stomach during sleep and wakefulness, in addition to mealtimes.

Ultimately, Traverso said, this futuristic device could provide treatment for intestinal diseases through electrical stimulation via additional electrodes embedded in the sensor. His MIT team recently received The development of medical therapies delivered by ingestible devices has received more than $65 million in funding from the U.S. government.

The potential of this versatile device “represents significant advances in both the diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal disorders.” Boji Tian at the University of Chicago.

It could also one day be useful in research into neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s disease, the paper says. Changes in bowel function can take up to about 10 years before other symptoms appear.