An electronic sensor inside of a pill could help physicians diagnose diseases by analyzing gas in the intestines.
Gut microbes produce gases that are believed to contribute to gastrointestinal diseases in some cases, Cell Press reported. This new gas sensor could provide insight into the impact of these intestinal gases, leading to new treatments and diagnostic techniques.
The groundbreaking pill is composed of a protective shell that encapsulates a "gas sensor, a microprocessor and wireless transmitter to process and transfer the data, and a miniature battery," Cell Press reported.
"The human gut's effect on gastrointestinal diseases consumes a significant portion of health care expenditure every year worldwide," said senior author Kourosh Kalantar-zadeh, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. "Innovative point-of-care methodologies for assessing gut state and diagnosing relevant diseases, as described in this article, will bring unprecedented benefits to the general public by providing medical and diagnostic devices that significantly reduce medical costs and improve the efficiency of the health care system."
Different types of gut microbes produce different byproducts, allowing different types of gas to be identified. Measuring levels of these types of gases could potentially reveal one's risk of diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome and colon cancer.
Another promising gas detection method is in vitro fermentation, which involves obtaining fecal samples and culturing them in an oxygen-free environment modeled after a gastrointestinal tract. These samples could be quantitatively analyzed to distinguish the different types of gases.
"Because both techniques are noninvasive, they have the potential to significantly impact relevant medical industries and public health sectors, facilitating the formulation of point-of-care methodologies for diagnostics and potentially new diet- or drug-based therapies for gastrointestinal diseases," Kalantar-zadeh said.
The findings were published in a recent edition of the journal Trends in Biotechnology.
