Researchers in the US have developed a platform that allows wireless ingestible devices to be tracked in 3D as they travels through the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, which may provide a cheaper, less invasive way of investigating, diagnosing and treating disorders that affect gastric motility.
Gastric motility disorders such as Crohn’s disease, gastroparesis (where the stomach doesn’t empty properly), incontinence, and constipation affect many people worldwide. They result when the nerves or muscles of the gut don’t work in a coordinated way, which can cause intestinal spasms or paralysis.
Presently, the most common methods of investigating and monitoring GI motility disturbances include endoscopy and the use of potentially harmful radiation, such as nuclear medicine scans and computerized tomography (CT). While they represent the gold standard, these types of investigations are not only costly and invasive, but they also need to take place in a hospital setting.
Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston teamed up with engineers from MIT and Caltech to develop a new method of tracking wireless, non-invasive ingestible microdevices used for GI monitoring that can be used in a non-clinical setting.
While video capsule endoscopy ("pill cams") and wireless motility capsules (WMCs) are already in use, neither can directly measure where in the GI tract the camera is located.
The newly developed platform includes an ingestible microdevice for the anatomical mapping of the GI tract (iMAG), which interfaces with a wireless Bluetooth receiver, such as a smartphone, to map the field data to the corresponding spatial location, allowing real-time position tracking of the device as it moves through the gut.
The system relies on flat, high-efficiency electromagnetic (EM) coils placed at the patient’s back to generate a local – and safe – 3D magnetic field. The coils can be installed in a backpack or jacket or attached to a toilet seat for continuous GI monitoring.
The iMAG was tested on a pig, given the anatomical similarities of the animal’s GI tract to the human GI tract. Tracking the device using both magnetic field measurements and X-rays, the researchers found that the iMAG was highly accurate at measuring the pig’s gut activity.
The researchers foresee several clinical uses for the device, including the diagnosis and treatment of diseases that cause delayed or accelerated gut motility. The EM coils used by the system can easily be incorporated into "smart" clothing for monitoring bowel movements.
Further, the device has the potential to be used therapeutically to deliver drugs or electrical stimulation directly to a particular anatomical structure in the gut.
“Here we report the three-dimensional localization and tracking of wireless ingestible microdevices in the gastrointestinal tract of large animals in real-time and with millimeter-scale resolution,” said Giovanni Traverso, MD, PhD, corresponding author of the study. “Such a portable and non-invasive procedure holds the potential for significant clinical benefit without causing patients discomfort."
Safety studies in large animals will need to be performed before human trials are commenced.
The study was published in Nature Electronics.
Source: Nature Electronics via EurekAlert!
