The future of vital sign monitoring: A capsule that transmits data from your stomach

Researchers have developed a capsule that can monitor vital signs from inside the stomach and could help diagnose sleep disorders and opioid overdoses. The capsule —the size of a vitamin—contains batteries and a wireless antenna that transmits data. It was tested on human volunteers at a sleep lab and showed accurate measurements of respiration, heart rate, temperature and gastric motility.

The capsule is made by Celero Systems, a start-up led by MIT and Harvard researchers. It has no adverse effects and passes through the body within a day. The researchers hope to extend its stay in the stomach to a week and enable it to deliver drugs internally if needed. For example, it could administer an overdose reversal agent if it detects that a person’s breathing rate has slowed or stopped.

The capsule could offer a more comfortable and convenient way to monitor vital signs than the traditional sensors and devices that are attached to the patient’s body. It could also provide a new pathway to help providers identify and treat sleep disorders and opioid overdoses, which are major public health challenges. The researchers plan to publish more data from the studies in the coming months.

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