This project aims to build smart pills with electronics coated as a thin film on the surface. The novelty is that all materials used for the battery, the transistors and other electronic components are safe to ingest. The thin film electronic circuit would remain active for a short while before being digested. In this duration, the circuit would carry out clinically important measurements using sensors and radio this information to outside the body where the signal would be picked up by a receiver. This technology promises to be a useful diagnostic tool. This project aims to use the smart pill to identify its feasibility in providing a spatial map of the pH in the alimentary canal. The project will also investigate the feasibility of sensing haemoglobin (Hb) to detect occult bleeding which is a common source of anaemia and the protein Trefoil factor3 (TFF3), which is a marker for detecting intestinal metaplasia in the stomach or oesophagus.
| Dr. Sanjiv Sambandan |
Department of Engineering |
| Prof. Andrew Flewitt |
Department of Engineering |
| Prof. Rebecca Fitzgerald |
MRC Cancer Unit |
