In the United States, about 16 out of 100 adults have problems with constipation (less than three bowel movements per week), according to health authorities – a proportion that increases with age.

A study published Monday in the journal Nature electronics detailed the operation of a pill which, once ingested, can be followed throughout its journey with an accuracy of 5 to 10 millimeters.

Such a device would make it possible to identify which part of the digestive tract is causing a slowing down of intestinal transit, and this much more simply than going to the hospital for an X-ray or a colonoscopy.

"If you can examine intestinal health using this type of small robot (...), it will be a great help for gastroenterologists, who have to do a lot of invasive tests" at present, underlined with AFP Saransh Sharma, researcher at Caltech University, and co-author of the study.

This would allow them "to obtain a lot of essential information for their diagnosis and their treatment proposal", he explained.

The device is composed of a pill 20 millimeters long and 8 in diameter, and a coil remaining outside the body, which emits an electromagnetic field.

The pill, once swallowed, picks up a unique electromagnetic value based on its distance, and this value is then transmitted to a computer or phone via Bluetooth.

This is what makes it possible to precisely determine the location of the pill.

Eventually, the researchers imagine that the coil could be placed in the patient's jacket, or even in the back of their toilet.

Everything was tested on pigs, whose anatomy is similar to that of humans.

The researchers hope to be able to carry out clinical trials on humans in "a few years", according to Saransh Sharma.

Besides helping constipated people, he believes that this solution could also benefit older people with incontinence.

The pill, ingested with food, could warn them once the colon has been reached, signaling to them that they must go to the toilet.

Vibes

This research demonstrates a growing interest in the role that ingesting robots can play for health - "a very popular sector", confirmed the researcher.

Another pill has already been approved this summer by the American Medicines Agency (FDA), for constipated people who see no improvement after a month of laxatives.

Called Vibrant, its movement cannot be followed, but it has a characteristic of its own: it vibrates inside the colon.

Once ingested, it goes out for a few hours, before activating once in the right place, producing small vibrations intermittently.

It is then passed out in the stool.

The treatment, designed to be taken once a day, has been tested in a clinical trial in around 300 people, showing that those who took the pill went to the bathroom more often.

Vibrant has been available in some US states since early 2023, and should become more widely available over the year, according to the Israeli company that markets it.

© 2023 AFP