Light-sensitive Hydrogel Pills Maybe The Edible Medical Apparatus For Patients

There are numerous medical devices that are being used to treat patients by inserting them in the mouth. However, it becomes a difficult task to get them out of the system.

New research has found a solution in the form of pills with light in it that disintegrates in the stomach after completing its mission. The new light-sensitive hydrogel can also be removed from the body if the device fails to work or if the treatment is finished. The patient will have to take a pill with a glowing LED in it. It will automatically start to dissolve itself as it reaches the gut.

“We are developing a set of systems that can reside in the gastrointestinal tract, and as part of that, we're looking to develop different ways in which we can trigger the disassembly of devices in the GI tract without the requirement for a major procedure,” Giovanni Traverso, a gastroenterologist from MIT said via Science Alert.

The scientists used pig guts to test the hydrogel. They found out that a bariatric balloon, which is used to treat obesity and reduce appetite, could be dissolved using LED in 30 minutes.

In order to craft the device material, the scientists used a light-sensitive polymer that contains a bond that breaks apart when it comes in contact with certain wavelengths of light. They also used stronger items like polyacrylamide so that the end product is strong enough to reach the gut and then break down.

Ritu Raman, one of the authors of the study, stated that it becomes ‘tough and sketchy’ when they have to form one polymer network and then form another polymer network around it.

The scientists believe that this technique has the potential for a better way to extract medical devices from a patient’s body after treatment. Meanwhile, different shades of light affect the breakdown speed as well, like ultraviolet light will disintegrate faster than any light, but it can also cause damage to the cells in the body.

The researchers mentioned that this technique has immense potential, and they will think about the best application for it.