Colon diseases targetted by smart capsule: study

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Colorectal cancer (or colon and rectum cancer) is the second most deadly type of cancer in the United States, the CDC reports. As of 2012, 134,784 Americans were diagnosed with this disease, which claimed the lives of 51,516 that year. Recently, a team of researchers from Purdue University in Indiana engineered an electronic drug capsule that directly delivers medication to the colon, Reuters reports. The electronic drug capsule is seen to be a more effective and cheaper treatment for thsoe with gastrointestinal problems.

According to FOX News, the electronic drug capsule was designed with two parts—the electronics that controls the device, and the container that holds the medication, which will be released after the device makes its way through the stomach and small intestine, taking approximately 8 hours. The device is designed to deliver the drugs safely into the lower part of the gastrointestinal tract.

"There is a magnetic switch and so when it gets close to the magnetic marker that can be worn outside (the body) or can be implanted close to where you want to release it," lead researcher Babak Ziaie explained. "When it gets there it will trigger the magnetic switch and it will discharge the capacitor and you have a fuse that basically blows up."

The magnetic switch was also designed to make sure that electromagnetic signals from mobile phones and other devices would not interfere with the capsule separation. A patient's weight is also a factor for designing the switch.

According to Ziaie, "You have to be close. You have to be within a couple of centimeters. So for a lean person you can wear the magnet outside. But if someone is very obese it actually wont trigger from outside so you probably have to implant."

The researchers claim that this targeted drug delivery system may make treatment for gastrointestinal problems much cheaper. They also admitted that they are currently working with a private biomedical company to begin medical trials.

This isn't the first of its kind to address gastrointestinal problems, as earlier this month, a study published in the journal HKIE Transactions showed a Tadpole Endoscope that enables doctors to move around a patient's gastrointestinal tract to check for cancer.

Accoridng to the Daily Mail, the 3D printed Tadpole Endoscope may help in diagnosing cancers in the gastrointestinal tract. While gastroscopy, endoscopy, and colonoscopy exist as traditional methods in diagnosing gastrointestinal cancers, the Tadpole Endoscope "attempts to improve these existing methods by offering a reliable, non-invasive diagnosis procedure for the GI tract."