Engineering news
Researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, have developed an ingestible electronic capsule that contains gas sensors, a temperature sensor, a microcontroller, a radio-frequency transmitter, and batteries.
In a small pilot trial in humans, the device was demonstrated to be capable of detecting different gases as it moved along the gut, and transmitting that data to a handheld receiver worn or carried by the patient, or a mobile phone.
It’s capable of detecting changes in a person’s diet from the concentrations of oxygen, hydrogen and carbon dioxide in the gut, and is a potentially powerful diagnostic tool.
“Previously, we have had to rely on faecal samples or surgery to sample and analyse microbes in the gut,” said Kourosh Kalantar-zadeh, a lead author on the study and the co-inventor of the capsule. “But this meant measuring them when they are not a true reflection of the gut microbiota at that time. Our capsule will offer a non-invasive method to measure microbiome activity.”
The capsule has now successfully passed human trials, and the researchers have formed a company called Atmo Biosciences to commercialise their invention. Co-inventor Kyle Berean said the sensors offered a “potential diagnostic tool for many disorders of the gut, from food nutrient malabsorption to colon cancer”.
The device has already discovered a previously unknown immune mechanism in the stomach, and the presence of high oxygen concentrations in the colon, which was previously thought to be oxygen free. "This new information could help us better understand how debilitating diseases like colon cancer occur," said Kalantar-zadeh.
Pietro Valdastri, an expert in medical robotics from the University of Leeds who was not involved in the project, told Professional Engineering that, while the direction of the research was interesting, there was nothing “outstanding” from an engineering point of view as such capsules have been used for cameras for some years. “If you can pack a visual sensor, which is a very high level of complexity, you can definitely pack any other type of sensor,” he said.
Valdastri said the next step would be to develop capsules that don’t pass through the gut automatically, and can instead be controlled – “to study the microbiome for a day, a week, and then to move to another part and study that”. His team is working on controlling the movement of such capsules using magnetic fields, which could provide a painless replacement for a traditional colonoscopy.
Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.