This ingestible electronic capsule can detect different gases in gut
4This ingestible electronic capsule can detect different gases in gut.
Scientists have developed an experimental ingestible electronic capsule that can detect gases such as oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon dioxide present in the human gut as well as shed light on the microbes that live within it. The capsule provided a potentially powerful diagnostic technique, and could offer unique insights into the effects of diet and medical supplements.
It might also translate into a monitoring tool that can be used to help develop individualized diets, the study showed.
“Our gas capsule offers an accurate and safe tool for monitoring the effects of diet of individuals, and has the potential to be used as a diagnostic tool for the gut,” said Kourosh Kalantar-Zadeh from the RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. The capsules had a non-transparent, polyethylene shell which included sensors for the gases that operate in various aerobic and anaerobic conditions, a temperature sensor, a microcontroller, a transmission system (433MHz), and button-size silver oxide batteries.
The capsule can sense oxygen content, for instance, where in the gut it is located. Oxygen was found to start off high in the stomach and drop off throughout the intestines. When the pill senses an oxygen-free environment, it exits. The other two gases gave researchers information about the gut microbiome’s activity wherever the capsule happens to be in the digestive tract.
The capsule could of significant value in the ind