In a revolutionary development in the field of medicine, researchers have successfully created a new device in the form of a digestible capsule that can monitor life-saving vital signs safely from within the stomach.
The new device, roughly the size of a pill, passed its initial human trials successfully. It is designed to monitor vital signs such as respiration and heart rate from inside the body, transmitting data to an external device such as a laptop.
Scientists suggest that this capsule has the potential to provide life-saving care for individuals at risk of opioid overdose.
The research team also hopes that the new device can assist people facing other health issues, such as sleep disorders.
Professor Giovanni Traverso, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a specialist in digestive diseases, stated, "The stomach, in general, provides some of the best signals, mainly because it is close to the heart and lungs. The ability to facilitate diagnosis and monitor many conditions without the need to go to the hospital can provide patients with easy access to healthcare and treatment support."
To test the capsule, researchers placed the device in the stomachs of anesthetized pigs and administered a dose of fentanyl, causing them to stop breathing. The device measured the respiratory rate and alerted the researchers when the animals stopped breathing.
The team then tested the device on humans for the first time by giving the capsule to ten people experiencing sleep apnea. The patients showed no negative effects from swallowing the capsule, which passed through their digestive systems unnoticed.
Compared to external vital sign monitoring devices, the capsule can accurately monitor heart rate with a precision of no less than 96%. The experiment also demonstrated the safety of the device, as all participants successfully expelled the capsule in their stools a few days after the trial.
