Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Tufts University, 161 College Ave, Medford, 02155, MA, USA.
Mikrochim Acta. 2023 Sep 12;190(10):385. doi: 10.1007/s00604-023-05946-1.
There exists a strong correlation between the pH levels of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and GI diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBS), ulcerative colitis, and pancreatis. Existing methods for diagnosing many GI diseases predominantly rely on invasive, expensive, and time-consuming techniques such as colonoscopy and endoscopy. In this study, an autonomous ingestible smart biosensing system in a pill format with integrated pH sensors is reported. The smart sensing pills will measure the pH profile as they transit through the GI tract. The data is then downloaded from the pills after they are collected from the feces. The sensor is based on electrodeposited PANI on carbon-coated conductive threads providing high pH sensitivity. Engineering innovations allowed integration of thread-based sensors on 3D-printed pill surfaces with front-end readout electronics, memory, and microcontroller assembled on mm-size circular printed circuit boards. The entire smart sensing pill possesses an overall length of 22.1 mm and an outer diameter of 9 mm. The modular biosensing system allows integration of thread-based biosensors to monitor other biomarkers in GI tract that mitigates the complex sensor fabrication process as well as overall pill assembly.
胃肠道 (GI) 中的 pH 值与 GI 疾病（如炎症性肠病 (IBS)、溃疡性结肠炎和胰腺炎）之间存在很强的相关性。目前诊断许多 GI 疾病的方法主要依赖于侵入性、昂贵且耗时的技术，如结肠镜检查和内窥镜检查。在这项研究中，报告了一种自主式可摄入智能生物感应系统，呈药丸形式并集成了 pH 传感器。智能感应丸在通过胃肠道时将测量 pH 值分布。然后，从粪便中收集药丸后，将数据从药丸中下载。该传感器基于在涂有碳的导电线上电沉积的 PANI，具有高 pH 值灵敏度。工程创新允许将基于线的传感器集成到 3D 打印药丸表面上，前端读出电子设备、内存和微控制器组装在毫米大小的圆形印刷电路板上。整个智能感应丸的总长度为 22.1 毫米，外径为 9 毫米。模块化生物传感系统允许集成基于线的生物传感器来监测胃肠道中的其他生物标志物，从而减轻复杂的传感器制造过程以及整体药丸组装的难度。
