Abstract

Motility disorders affect the way the GI tract muscles contract. Dysmotility of the small intestine may lead to symptoms such as bloating, pain, vomiting and cramps and may act as an indication to a number of severe conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, gastroparesis or chronic idiopathic constipation.

Obtaining the contractile information of the gastrointestinal tract (GI tract) would help to better diagnose motility disorders, providing for example a direct method to assess irregular small intestine motions. Ingestible Motility Capsules (IMCs) offer an attractive alternative to conventional manometry, as these systems are designed to be ingestible and act as a lab-in-a-capsule where the physiological parameters of the GI tract are captured with minimal patient discomfort and potentially advanced diagnostic capabilities. In addition, assessing the contractile information may potentially provide an effective method to localise the capsule, as it travels within the GI tract.

I will present a flexible thin-film LC pressure sensors and readout system that paved the way to design and develop PressureCap, a novel ingestible motility capsule (IMC), with the potential to monitor simultaneously multiple sites of the GI tract.