Capsule takes bacteria samples as it moves through GI tract

The GI tract, in addition to the colon, includes the mouth, oesophagus, stomach, pancreas, liver, gallbladder, small intestine and rectum.

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“It’s all about being able to take samples of bacteria anywhere in the gut. That was impossible before,” said Rahim Rahimi, an assistant professor of materials engineering at Purdue University, Indiana.

The tool is a drug-like capsule that passively moves through the gut without needing a battery. A pill version of a colonoscopy is already commercially available to view areas of the colon that a traditional colonoscopy cannot see, but neither tool can sample bacteria.

“If a colonoscopy or camera pill sees blood, it can’t sample that area to investigate further. You could just sample bacteria from a person’s faecal matter, but bacteria can vary a lot throughout the GI tract. Our approach could be complementary,” Rahimi said in a statement.