Bioinspired Capsule Pump Drugs into Walls of GI Tract

BioTech INSIDER

The researchers also designed the capsules so that they can target different parts of the digestive tract. (Credit: MIT)

Researchers have developed an ingestible capsule that releases a burst of drugs directly into the wall of the stomach or other organs of the digestive tract. This capsule could offer an alternative way to deliver drugs that normally have to be injected, such as insulin and other large proteins, including antibodies.

This needle-free strategy could also be used to deliver RNA, either as a vaccine or a therapeutic molecule to treat diabetes, obesity, and other metabolic disorders. The researched wanted to explore ways to deliver these molecules without any kind of needle, which could reduce the possibility of any damage to the tissue.

To achieve that, they took inspiration from cephalopods. Squids and octopuses can propel themselves by filling their mantle cavity with water, then rapidly expelling it through their siphon. By changing the force of water expulsion and pointing the siphon in different directions, the animals can control their speed and direction of travel. The siphon organ also allows cephalopods to shoot jets of ink, forming decoy clouds to distract predators.

The researchers came up with two ways to mimic this jetting action, using compressed carbon dioxide or tightly coiled springs to generate the force needed to propel liquid drugs out of the capsule. The gas or spring is kept in a compressed state by a carbohydrate trigger, which is designed to dissolve when exposed to humidity or an acidic environment such as the stomach. When the trigger dissolves, the gas or spring is allowed to expand, propelling a jet of drugs out of the capsule.

The researchers envision that the ingestible capsule could be used at home by patients who need to take insulin or other injected drugs frequently. In addition to making it easier to administer drugs, especially for patients who don’t like needles, this approach also eliminates the need to dispose of sharp needles. The researchers also created and tested a version of the device that could be attached to an endoscope, allowing doctors to use it in an endoscopy suite or operating room to deliver drugs to a patient.

Source