A novel ingestible electronic drug delivery and monitoring device has been developed. The device comprises a drug reservoir, a pH and temperature sensor, a microprocessor and wireless transceiver, a stepper motor and batteries. The researchers who developed the device conducted two consecutive observational studies in 20 healthy volunteers. The first study found that ingestion and passage of the capsule was safe and well tolerated; temperature and pH data were received from the transceiver. The second study found that remotely actuated expulsion of 99mtechnetium-pertechnetate from the capsule was successful in 9 of 10 individuals. This first study in humans shows that this device could be a useful tool for targeted delivery of drugs to the gastrointestinal tract.
ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER
van der Schaar, P. J. et al. A novel ingestible electronic drug delivery and monitoring device. Gastrointest. Endosc. doi:10.1016/j.gie.2013.03.170
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Promising tool for targeted delivery of drugs to the gastrointestinal tract. Nat Rev Gastroenterol Hepatol 10, 382 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2013.111
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrgastro.2013.111