Smart capsules for sensing and sampling the gut: status, challenges and prospects

Area of Science:

• Gastroenterology
• Biomedical Engineering
• Medical Devices

Background:

• The field of smart capsules for gut health monitoring emerged in the early 2000s, evolving from basic imaging to advanced sensing and sampling capabilities.
• Recent advancements have significantly accelerated the development and application of smart capsules beyond imaging, encompassing physiological parameter measurement and sample collection.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the current status of smart capsules for sensing gut parameters.
• To highlight technical and clinical challenges in realizing the full clinical value of these devices.
• To discuss the prospects of sensing and robotic capsules in transforming gut health diagnosis and monitoring.

Main Methods:

• Review of state-of-the-art smart capsule technologies for sensing gut parameters (temperature, pH, pressure, gas).
• Examination of advancements in robotic capsules for tissue biopsy and gut microbiota sampling.
• Analysis of technical and clinical challenges and future prospects.

Main Results:

• Smart capsules are increasingly capable of measuring diverse physiological parameters throughout the gastrointestinal tract.
• Robotic capsules are being developed for in-situ tissue biopsy and microbiota sample collection, enhancing diagnostic potential.
• Significant progress has been made, but technical and clinical hurdles remain for widespread adoption.

Conclusions:

• Smart capsules, including sensing and robotic variants, represent a transformative technology for gut health diagnosis, monitoring, and intervention.
• Overcoming current challenges will enable these devices to revolutionize patient care and healthcare practices.
• The integration of sensing and sampling capabilities in smart capsules offers unprecedented opportunities for understanding and managing gastrointestinal conditions.