India Pharma Outlook Team | Wednesday, 30 July 2025
In one of the most significant advancements in medtech, scientists have presented a smart capsule capable of monitoring and treating inflammation of the gut in real-time, which his manageable via smartphone app.
The latest technology, previously demonstrated successfully in pigs, has the potential to revolutionize the way in which the healthcare industry is dealing with chronic gut diseases such as colitis.
The smart capsule, an invention by a group of engineers and biologists, uses platform technology in the form of engineered E. coli bacteria, which detects signs of inflammation, like nitric oxide, which is present in the intestine.
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The response of these bacteria is the light emission which is explored by sensors incorporated in the capsule. The data is afterwards relayed into the linked smart phone software over Bluetooth so that the monitoring and diagnostics can be subsequently observed in real-time. The two-way communication that this device has, is what makes it special.
In addition to surveillance, the app can give commands to the capsule so that the built-in LED switches on. The bacteria are stimulated to secrete anti-inflammatory molecules in the inflammatory location with this light-the opening of a new age of targeted therapy enabled by synthetic biology and digital technology.
To the healthcare and diagnostics sector, the smart capsule gives access to ingestible devices that would not only be used to monitor the health of the gut but would also introduce non-invasive delivery of specific therapies. It is a first step towards more tech-enabled, more personalized gut treatments, as researchers view it.
Although not in use on humans, the demonstration of success in animal models indicates that the capsule is a milestone in bio-electronic medicine and digital therapeutics. It is an indication of an emerging industry trend of combining biology with real-time health solutions through apps-driven technologies.
