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3D illustration of Small Intestine, Part of Digestive System.

Pill-like device for collecting intestinal fluid samples

In this project, we are developing a pill-shaped device to collect the content of the intestinal fluid at any length of the gut.

Technology. In this project we are developing a pill-shaped device based on an idea of marketed PillCam™. Instead of taking photos as PillCam™, our device is designed to collect fluid from the intestine content. The sample collection mechanism is triggered by the remote control allowing the physician to take samples from any length of the intestine. Multiple devices can be used in time intervals to collect samples from different regions of the gut. No untethered device has so far been successful in drawing substantial amounts (>0.5 ml) of fluid/other contents from the small intestine. The proposed pill-shaped device can collect fluid amounts of ca. 1ml. This feature will allow a broad analysis of the sample in multiple assays.

The commercial potential and applications

  1. Diagnosis of intestinal disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease and cancers; the capsule could be a sampling device for collectingsamples for liquid biopsy testing.
  2. Research on intestinal disorders and microbiome.
  3. Research and diagnostics in intestinal disease to develop therapeutics and vaccines for use in low- and middle-income countries.

Regulatory issues. Researchers are working with REK (Regional Committees for Medical and Health Research Ethics in Norway) to approve testing in volunteers. The capsule has a comparable size to FDA-approved PillCam™.

Development status. Currently, we are preparing for testing of the device in the pig gut model.

The project is looking for R&D collaboration partners or out-licensing opportunities. For any inquiries, please contact the project manager at VIS: Malgorzata Barczyk (mba@visinnovasjon.no; +47 480 82 052)

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