Scientists are finding more and more that gastrointestinal routes (GI) play a vital role in our global health. Although its main functions focus on digestion, the gastrointestinal tract is also involved in the production of hormones, immune cells and even neurotransmitters that can affect mood and brain function. As such, the gastrointestinal tract is hosting many different biomarkers which can be useful for identifying, monitoring and treating diseases – all from short -chain fatty acids which are indicators of metabolic syndrome with cytokines which are biomarkers of inflammation.
But there is no currently available technology that can easily take advantage of this metabolic molecular information of the gastrointestinal tract. Traditional evaluation methods involve a fecal analysis or biopsy, which are invasive, costly and cannot provide real-time profiling through the gastrointestinal tract.
Now, a team of Caltech engineers has developed an intelligent capsule called Pilltrek, which can measure the pH, the temperature and a variety of different biomarkers. It incorporates simple and inexpensive sensors in a miniature wireless electrochemical workstation which is based on low -power electronics. Pilltrek is tiny, measuring 7 millimeters in diameter and 25 millimeters in length, which makes it smaller than the capsule cameras available in the trade used for endoscopy but capable of executing a range of electrochemical measurements.
“We have designed this pill to be a very versatile platform”, explains Wei Gaoprofessor of medical engineering at Caltech and investigator of the Heritage Medical Research Institute. “From an electrochemical detection point of view, it is very powerful. It has the capacity to measure metabolites, ions, hormones such as serotonin and dopamine, perhaps even proteins. And everything in the intestine, which is a complex environment.”
Scientists describe the capsule in a new paper in the newspaper Electronic nature. The main authors of the newspaper are Jihong Min, a postdoctoral trainee for scholarship scholarships in medical engineering from Caltech, and Hyunah Ahn, visitor in medical engineering at Caltech and a graduate student at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).
As proof of concept, Pilltrek was used in the study to measure pH and temperature as well as glucose levels and neurotransmitter serotonin in animal models.
Gao stresses that the electrochemical workstation in the capsule is reconfigurable. A variety of different sensors could easily be exchanged in place to allow measures of different parameters in the intestine. His team previously developed A technique for 3D printing cheap sensors on plastic substrate sheets. This technique can be used to mass produce Pilltrek sensors.
In terms of next steps, Gao says he is working with the co-author Azita EmamiProfessor Andrew and PEGGY Cherng of electrical engineering and medical engineering in Caltech, to examine the transfer of wireless power supply and the electronics smaller that would make the pill even smaller and lower.
“Unmanageable capsules have significant potential in the diagnosis, monitoring and management of chronic conditions, but previous devices were very limited in terms of detection, life and size capacities,” explains Emami, who is also director of the Center for Sensing To Intelligence. “This work is a significant translation step towards devices that can provide significant medical information for patients and doctors.”
The additional authors of the newspaper are Heather Lukas (MS ’21), Xiaotian Ma, Rinni Bhansali, Sung-Hyuk Sunwoo, Canran Wang (MS ’23), Yadong Xu, Dickson R. Yao and Gwangmook Kim by Caltech, as well as Zhaoping Li and Tzung K. Hee-Tae Jung de Katt.
The work was supported by the financing of the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the American Cancer Society, the Army Research Office, the Acquisition of Medical Research of the American Army, the National Research Foundation of Korea, the Heritage Medical Research Institute and the Katc Berkeley-Vnu Research Center. The team also received critical support and infrastructure Kavli Nanoscience Institute to Caltech.