Swallowable wearable takes care of tummy troubles

Gas sensing capsules to assess the state of things inside your gut and send the data to your smartphone before passing through your digestive system could soon be available thanks to a team of Australian researchers.

They designed the sensors to distinguish gases because some have been linked to colon cancer and inflammatory bowel disease, among other problems in the digestive tract.

Analysis of gut gases could become a means to assess overall health, according to the research team, although they say current non-invasive methods such as breath testing are insufficient.

“Being able to accurately measure intestinal gases could accelerate our knowledge about how specific gut microorganisms contribute to gastrointestinal disorders and food intake efficiency, enabling the development of new diagnostic techniques and treatments,” says lead investigator Professor Kourosh Kalantarzadeh of Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT University).

The capsules could also assess the gut microbiota, or friendly gut bacteria, to make sure you have the right species in the right quantities.

What’s more, they could help people understand why certain foods make them queasy or cause bloating and discomfort, for example, according to Professor Kalantarzadeh.

His team has already successfully tested the pills on animals to confirm the safety of swallowing them for they contain a microprocessor and a wireless high frequency transmitter.

“With nearly half of Australia’s population complaining of digestive problems in any 12-month period, this technology could be the simple tool we need to methodically tailor our diets to our individual bodies and improve our digestive health,” says Professor Kalantarzadeh.

According to the paper, which was published in the journal Trends in Biotechnology, the tablets would be cost-effective.

Source: Free Malaysia Today
Published: 16 Mar 2015

Tags: featured

Category: Features, Technology & Devices