The mucus-wicking robot pill could be a novel way to deliver medication.
The device, which is multivitamin in size, houses a motor as well as a cargo compartment for drugs. This includes those that are given intravenously or by injection, such insulin and certain antibiotics. If people could take such drugs orally, they could potentially avoid daily shots or a hospital stay, which would be “a huge game changer,” says MIT biomedical engineer Shriya Srinivasan.
However, drugs that enter the body by the mouth are often faced with a challenging journey. They will encounter acidic stomach acid, angry digestive enzymes and sticky mucus. Intestinal mucus “sort of acts like Jell-O,” Srinivasan says. The goo can trap drug particles and keep them out of the bloodstream.
RoboCap, the new device, solves this problem. To remove intestinal mucus, the pill uses surface grooves and studs as well as torpedo-inspired fins. It works like a tiny brush inside a bottle. Experiments in pigs RoboCap saw through the mucus-lined walls of the small intestinale.Srinivasan with colleagues reported September 28 that they had deposited insulin or the IV antibiotic Vancomycin. Science Robotics.After about 35 minutes of churning, the pill was finally released from the body.
RoboCap is the latest tablet-like gadget that can be swallowed. In 2019, some of the same researchers who developed RoboCap debuted a different device — one that Injects drugs by puncturing the stomach (SN: 2/7/19). The injector, which is about the size of a pea, was not intended to be used in the small intestine where certain drugs can be absorbed most easily. Srinivasan suggests that the RoboCap might be able deliver larger drug payloads.
