Many gut conditions are typically diagnosed using invasive, uncomfortable procedures, but new technology aims to offer accurate diagnoses, more simply and without all of the discomfort.
Our guts have many important jobs that contribute to overall health, one of which is allowing only water and nutrients to pass into our bloodstreams. While all guts are semi-permeable to allow for this to happen, some are more permeable than others — and this complicates things for the body.
Picture a long tube with tiny, brick-like structures packed tightly together. The bricks, or cells, have spaces between them that are sealed with “glue” called tight junctions. These allow good stuff in and keep the bad stuff out. When the gut gets inflamed, the “glue” can weaken, allowing things to pass through that should not.
“This work signifies major progress towards the use of non-invasive bioimpedance sensing as a diagnostic tool in ingestible technology and leaky gut identification,”
– Research team at University of Maryland
Checking the strength of the “glue” is often met with endoscopies — invasive tests that are uncomfortable and can’t reach all of the gastrointestinal tract or measure permeability. These tests can be inconclusive.
But not anymore.
A study recently published in Microsystems & Nanoengineering discusses an ingestible device capable of continuously monitoring the epithelial barriers of the gastrointestinal tract.
The research team from the University of Maryland used animal tissue models to validate the findings, measuring how electricity moves (bioimpedance) through the lining of the gut. This allows detection of gaps in the tight junctions.
Identification of these gaps can indicate early signs of diseases like Crohn’s and ulcerative colitis, in which early diagnoses can determine the severity and speed at which the disease progresses.
Crohn’s is a chronic inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract. While a person isn’t likely to die from it, the disease can lead to other life-threatening issues such as severe infections and colorectal cancer.
Prolonged diagnoses can also lead to damage in the intestines like holes or blockages that require surgery to fix.
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Less threatening symptoms include stomach pain, severe diarrhea, weight loss, malnutrition and fatigue.
With 6-8 million people in the United States alone affected and no cure, early detection and treatment can alleviate a lot of the bodily trauma, pain and life-threatening issues. It can also contribute to periods of remission.
Until the development of this device, detection of dilations in the tight junctions could be achieved only in the esophagus because the electrodes needed to be connected externally. Therefore, “comparable datasets from the small or large intestine are lacking,” the team says.
CAPTION: Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy IMAGE: ShutterstockBut with wireless, bluetooth-enabled technology, this is no longer the case.
And seeing isn’t nearly enough for comprehensive diagnoses. The capsules measure things like temperature and motility, offering real-time and continuous data required for not only diagnoses, but also for treatment-plan adjustments and interventions.
The data needs to be on point, which is complicated with all of the twists and turns in the intestines. Sensor-sensitivity design needs to be targeted.
“This work signifies major progress towards the use of non-invasive bioimpedance sensing as a diagnostic tool in ingestible technology and leaky gut identification,” the researchers say.
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