Microsystems & Nanoengineering Table of Contents How this capsule works? A big breakthrough
The human digestive tract has a lining that prevents harmful materials, such as bacteria, from getting absorbed into the bloodstream. When this mucosal barrier is damaged, toxins and other harmful material leak into the underlying tissue, causing a variety of health problems. The weakening of this barrier is attributed to a wide range of inflammatory bowel diseases, leading to increased permeability of the walls.
Even though methods like endoscopy can offer a look at the gut health, there are two major hassles with such an approach. First, these methods are invasive, don’t offer a complete visual analysis, and require a visit to a hospital. Moreover, they don’t offer a real-time view of gut health and the accompanying risks to physicians.
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What if an ingestible wireless capsule did the job ? That’s exactly what experts at the University of Maryland have developed. The team has created what they call an ingestible bioimpedance sensing capsule for monitoring the internal gut health. It could very well push us beyond wearable health sensing . How this capsule works?
Microsystems & Nanoengineering The capsule comes embedded with a flexible, four-probe sensor coated with a conductive polymer layer. The device measures change in the impedance levels within and sends the information in real-time through Bluetooth connectivity.
The onboard lithium-manganese dioxide is claimed to offer up to 29 hours of real-time gut analysis activity. As for the capsule itself, it’s a 3D-printed module that is roughly 14 millimeters in diameter and about 28 millimeters in length.
To assist with quick diagnosis, the device wirelessly transmits data and features an LED light that activates to show changes in permeability levels inside the gut.
During their tests with mice, the ingestible capsule was able to successfully differentiate between healthy and damaged gastrointestinal tissue. It was able to detect subtle vibrations in the gut wall permeability, which is a sign of inflammatory bowel disease. A big breakthrough Microsystems & Nanoengineering The team says their ingestible sensor can even sense mild cases of internal gut inflammation with high sensitivity and stability. “We […]
This ingestible smart capsule can wirelessly monitor gut health in real time
