Smart pill from MIT monitors and medicates via Bluetooth

The 3D-printed pill combines the work of several previous studies that have looked at ingestible technologies to observe and treat disease. Known as a gastric resident electronic (GRE) system, the device unfolds into a Y shape once it reaches the stomach, where it can remain for roughly a month before breaking up and passing through the gut. The base of the Y contains four small compartments for storing medication that can be released over a sustained period as the polymer casing degrades. It’s envisaged that drug delivery could alternatively be controlled by a smartphone or tablet via Bluetooth.

Bluetooth can also be used to communicate data from the GRE’s sensor suite, which monitors the gastric environment. The current paper, published in Advanced Materials Technologies, details how this device was used to monitor temperature, and the team has previously designed sensors that can detect vital signs such as heart rate and breathing rate. Detection range is limited to about an arm’s length, but this is a strength of the system rather than a flaw, according to the researchers.