Recently, a group of scientists envisioned new solutions that would improve the treatment of bowel problems without the use of drugs, but rather with a swallowable robotic capsule, a treatment technology that is increasingly being researched.
About 16 out of every 100 adults in the United States suffer from constipation, according to health authorities, and the percentage increases with age, reports Al-Rai daily.
A study published in the journal Nature Electronics detailed the modus operandi of these pills, whose movement after ingestion can be tracked with great accuracy.
This technology makes it possible to find out which part of the digestive system is causing slowed intestinal transit, much simpler than undergoing an X-ray or colonoscopy in the hospital.
Saransh Sharma, a researcher at Caltech University in California and co-author of the study, told AFP that “checking the gut health using this type of small robot will be very useful for gastroenterologists who are currently forced to perform a lot of troublesome examinations.”
He explained that this would allow them to “get a lot of basic information for diagnosis and suggest treatment” appropriate.
This technology is based on a bead 20 millimeters long and eight millimeters in diameter, and a reel that remains outside the body and emits an electromagnetic field. After ingestion, the pill picks up electromagnetic waves that vary depending on the distance, and transmits them to a computer or phone via Bluetooth, which allows them to determine their exact location.
The researchers envision the reel could be placed in a patient’s jacket, or even in the back of a toilet.
