2024-02-28 19:02:00
At first glance, it appears to be a simple capsule, easy to swallow because it is barely larger than a paracetamol tablet. But inside hides a real little autonomous robot ready to deploy its large arms to travel through the digestive tract by clinging to its walls. Called Inspire, this incredible machine has just been presented in the magazine Science Robotics by a team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, United States. It was designed to treat “paralysis” of the intestine.
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Our digestive tract is driven by muscular contractions allowing food to move from the mouth to the anus. This phenomenon, called peristalsis in scientific jargon, is therefore vital. But it happens that it is blocked, paralyzed, especially following abdominal surgery, when the intestines have been manipulated.
Simple and very ingenious
We then speak of postoperative ileus. It is precisely this problem and other intestinal motility disorders that American researchers wish to treat with Inspire. They are responsible for intestinal obstructions, accumulation of gas and fluids, bloating, abdominal distention, constipation, vomiting, nausea, etc.
The operation of the device is both simple and very ingenious. Its design consists of two arms which form an S 35 millimeters high by 30 millimeters wide. Each arm is equipped on its surface with two tiny electrodes. In the center of the S are an electronic circuit and a small battery. Everything is folded and encapsulated in a sort of biocompatible and biodegradable capsule.
Once ingested, the capsule dissolves to release the robot in the small intestine. Inspire can then deploy its large arms, which will rest on the wall of the intestine. The onboard electronics will then produce small electrical discharges which stimulate the enteric nervous system in contact with the wall, a vast network of neurons often referred to as the second brain.
“Electrical stimulation locally activates the intestinal muscle layer and causes contractions. It also provides a “boost” to the enteric nervous system, which helps restore peristalsis. In addition, intestinal contractions are also triggered when the intestine is locally distended, due to an accumulation of food. The device, thanks to its expansion capacity, reproduces this effect,” specifies, at PointShriya Srinivasan, assistant professor of bioengineering at Harvard and first author of the publication.
For the moment, the robot has shown its effectiveness in pigs. It still needs to be tested in humans. “Despite the similarity between the digestive systems of pigs and humans, adaptation and optimization of the device are still necessary before considering tests on humans,” explains Shriya Srinivasan. American scientists are particularly drawing attention to the effects that electrical stimulation might have on the intestinal microbiota. The latter, in addition to its fundamental action on digestion, also plays an important role on the immune system as well as the nervous system. It would therefore be annoying to replace one problem with another.
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