Researchers from NYU Abu Dhabi and the Tandon School of Engineering spearheaded the development of an ingestible device with LED light technology that could transform the way doctors examine and treat gastrointestinal disorders. 

While most methods of thorough gastrointestinal examination typically require intensive surgical procedures, the Ingestible Controlled Optogenetic Stimulation — created by NYU Abu Dhabi and Tandon professor Khalil Ramadi — stimulates nerve cells by delivering targeted light to the gut. The light comes via a swallowable pill, allowing experts to identify affected cells without the use of surgery or other physically invasive tools.

Mohamed Elsherif, a post-doctoral associate at the Abu Dhabi campus and one of the project’s lead authors, told WSN that prior technologies have failed to conduct neural stimulation for the digestive system, which contains over 100 million nervous cells, the second largest system in the human body. 

“These neural cells are not responsive to the light by nature. If you try to stimulate them using chemicals or electrodes, it just excites all of them,” Elsherif said. “We do genetic modification to a subset of these neurons, so only those will respond to the blue light.”

Unlike other pills that utilize similar technology, the ICOPS was developed with 3D printing, which researchers said simplified production. They had sought to develop a non-invasive method to insert optical fibers in the digestive system, creating a digestible thin capsule shell slightly shorter than a penny. The shell holds tiny LED lights that emit high-frequency blue light, allowing for minimal contact with patients’ internal tissue.

“If you look at any other capsule published, they make the design, they send it into microfabrication companies, then they get it done,” Elsherif said. “But this one is from scratch — we connect every single piece and assemble everything in the lab, under a microscope.”

Traditionally, most methods of nerve cell stimulation, including chemical and electrical processes, don’t allow experts to pinpoint specific classes of neurons — a phenomenon Elsherif compared to “flipping all the switches in a house on while you want to just flip one switch.” The ICOPS allows experts to pinpoint specific neurons in the gut for treatment, and is powered wirelessly by a transmitter outside the body that receives signals from the pill’s receiver coil.

The ICOPS can be used to help develop cures for metabolic disorders like irritable bowel syndrome, as well as control hormones that worsen obesity and eating disorders. Elsherif said that the pill’s light stimulation can reduce obesity by controlling the body’s levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin, which triggers appetite.

“If we modulate the cells genetically in the duodenum, then [deliver] our capsule to stimulate them, we control the hunger hormone,” Elsherif said. “This way it can help the people who suffer from obesity.”

Contact Sam Donagi at [email protected].