Babak Ziaie, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Purdue University, holds a smart capsule Thursday that he helped create with a team of Purdue University researchers. With the capsule, doctors could manipulate when and where the capsule releases its medicine into the body. (Photo: Joseph Paul/Journal & Courier)
Technology is all around you. But someday, it could be inside you.
Purdue University researchers in an experiment used a "smart capsule" to manipulate when and where medicine was released inside a simulated gastrointestinal tract. With further development, doctors could one day use the device to target drug delivery in the body after ingestion.
Most medicines on the market today are designed to dissolve in the stomach or small intestine, said Babak Ziaie, a professor of electrical and computer engineering and an author of the research paper, published recently in an engineering journal.
"However, if you want to release (medicine) into a specific location very accurately, it's more challenging," Ziaie said.
The capsule could be especially effective for illnesses in the large intestine that are difficult to treat, such as irritable bowel syndrome, Crohn's disease or Clostridium difficile. When the capsule reaches the organ, a magnet worn on the patient's hip would trigger electrical components in the device to release the medicine.
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