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Ingestible Sensor Could Help Doctors Pinpoint GI Difficulties
The tiny sensor works by detecting a magnetic field produced by an electromagnetic coil located outside the body. The strength of the field varies with distance from the coil, allowing the sensor's position to be determined.
Credit: MIT News
An ingestible sensor developed by engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the California Institute of Technology can be monitored as it travels through the digestive tract, helping doctors to diagnose gastrointestinal ailments more precisely.
After it is swallowed, the capsule-contained sensor detects a magnetic field generated by an electromagnetic coil outside the patient's body within 60 centimeters (23.6 inches) or less, with its position calculated according to its measurement of the field.
A second sensor functions as a reference point outside the body, to pinpoint the ingested sensor's internal location.
The device transmits magnetic field measurements to a computer or smartphone.
The researchers demonstrated the sensor by tracked it as it moved through the digestive tracts of large animals.
From MIT News
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