Whats in your Gut? One ingestible pill coming up for understanding the microbiota inside small intestine

A group of scientist from Tufts University, USA, Harvard University, USA and Sao Paulo State University (UNESP), Brazil have been able to develop soft, ingestible and non-invasive sampling device to collect samples from small intestine for microbiome studies. Previously plagued by contamination due to downstream intestinal regions, the authors claimed to have collected samples free of any significant contamination.

Benchtop stereo-lithography 3D printing followed by manual insertion of polyacrylate beads was used for synthesis of first-of-its-kind device. It is affordable, lightweight and biocompatible, and collects sample through pH-triggered sidewall inlets. Once the sample has been collected, the elastic microvalves autonomously close due to the action of the two super-absorbent swelling beads. The device has been tested exhaustively in-vitro as well as in-vivo in different animal models. Their experiments showed that the bacterial populations obtained by the pills are similar to the ones collected from the small intestine of corresponding dead animals.

The scientists aim to miniaturize the pills, improve the self-closing mechanism utilizing signals other than pH-based dissolution. This, in turn, would help to gain even deeper insights into gut microbiota pertaining to specific regions of the gut rather than relying primarily on fecal DNA and fecal metabolites.

Reference:

Del-Rio-Ruiz, R., Romualdo da Silva, D. R., Suresh, H., Creasey, H., Asci, C., dos Santos, D. M., Sharma, A., Widmer, G., & Sonkusale, S. (2024). Soft autonomous ingestible device for sampling the small-intestinal microbiome. Device, 100406. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.device.2024.100406

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