Gut Sensor Could Monitor Health -- and Beam Results to a Smartphone

Doctors are now one step closer to deploying sensors that can travel to parts of a patient's body to diagnose hard-to-detect conditions. From a report: Researchers have devised a new way to get a sneak peek into what's going on deep in your digestive system, creating a swallowable sensor that, with the help of engineered bacteria and a tiny electrical circuit, can detect the presence of molecules that might be signs of disease and then beam the results to a smartphone app. The device, which scientists validated in pigs, remains a prototype and needs to be refined before it could be used in people. But the researchers, who reported their work Thursday in the journal Science, combined innovations in synthetic biology and microelectronics to create a modular platform that could be adapted to identify a wide range of molecules. "We want to try to illuminate and provide understanding into areas that are not easily accessible," said Dr. Timothy Lu, a bioengineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and senior author of the paper.

I can see this not ending well

[Anonymous Coward]

"you ate a big mack and large fries?" Now, that's gonna cost ya'.

you know those "check engine" lights on the dash?

[FudRucker]

now we have idiot lights for people, they will be vague alarms to get you to go to the doctor so they can charge you a bunch of money for routine stuff that dont amount to anything,

yeah, i am a little overweight, yeah i have arthritis, yeah my blood pressure is a little high, i am getting close to 60 years old and i could die today, or next week, or maybe by the end of the year, or i could live another 10 years, i dont need a doctor getting rich off of me to tell me that

not news

[Anonymous Coward]

I have a bluetooth-enabled butt plug (wearing it now, BTW :) I use my Samsung Galaxy to monitor my ass and, of course, adjust the vibration. My partner has one and during sex we trade phones and control each other's asses. (When our asses aren't already in use, that is!). It's mind-blowing, really.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

That's a fantastic story, but provably false. Anyone into that type of thing would of course be using an Apple phone.

Got that already. In better.

[Qbertino]

My nervous system monitors my gut and the rest of my body 24/7. Works pretty well.
Millions of years of evolution make for some pretty rad design and engineering.
Doesn't need batteries, doesn't need an upgrade.
Sometimes I just miss listening to it. You have to train that.
Like correctly interpreting some graphs on your health.

FTFY...

[QuietLagoon]

Gut Sensor Could Monitor Health -- and Beam Results to Advertising Networks

Re:

[burtosis]

I thought it would beam them directly to your insurance company so they can deny you coverage.

Re:

[QuietLagoon]

Insurance company would probably buy the data from the ad network.

Beam. Seriously?

[fahrbot-bot]

... beam the results to a smartphone app.

(sigh)

Re:

[ole_timer]

so is RF a particle or is it a wave? beam is perfectly correct.

Re:

[fahrbot-bot]

(sigh)

so is RF a particle or is it a wave? beam is perfectly correct.

Well... As a verb, "beam" implies a focused or point-to-point transmission or transmission in a specific direction, which I'm sure this isn't. And, hopefully, it's not a bright light shining through the abdominal wall. "Transmit" or "broadcast" would be better words in this case. In any case, I'm quite sure TFA editor was just trying to be clever and make it sound all SciFi -- which it isn't as there are already implantable devices that transmit data wirelessly. So, again, (sigh).

Re:

[mschuyler]

OK. "Broadcast" then. Happy now? Good Lord Read my sig.

Re:

[fahrbot-bot]

OK. "Broadcast" then. Happy now?

Yes. In any case, anything would be better than "shoot". From TFA:

The electrical system can then shoot the signal out to a smartphone app, like a prospector screaming upon striking oil.

Pretty sure no one wants anything shooting out of their abdomen.

And, the screaming prospector part is just ridiculous. TFA author is a moron.

Re:

[ole_timer]

VERB 1.transmit (a radio signal or broadcast) in a specified direction. "beaming a distress signal into space" [more] synonyms: broadcast transmit relay send/put out disseminate direct aim [more]

Yes!

[cascadingstylesheet]

Excellent! I can't think of a better, more secure platform for my health information than a smartphone!

If instead of a smartphone

[bobstreo]

it could just directly push the data to my facebook account it would save a lot of time. /s

$1250/mo cell plan needed!

[Joe_Dragon]

$1250/mo cell plan needed!

I know someone who needs this

[jader3rd]

But it will most likely result in greater depression because they keep refusing to be honest about their diet, and find the truth to be depressing.

Conundrum

[Areyoukiddingme]

Researchers have devised a new way to get a sneak peek into what's going on deep in your digestive system, creating a swallowable sensor that, with the help of engineered bacteria and a tiny electrical circuit, can detect the presence of molecules that might be signs of disease and then beam the results to a smartphone app. The device, which scientists validated in pigs, remains a prototype and needs to be refined before it could be used in people.

So, how did they get the smartphones away from the pigs after the study was complete?

Kind of sad

[brucekeller]

With the lack of comments or the disdain for the concept. Your gut is a HUGE part of you, it even helps determine your personality. Gut sensors would definitely be a leap in medical technology and could be used to treat symptoms ranging from depression to even cancer. I bet we'll be seeing more news of this type coming out as leading medical scientists further decipher the complexity of our gut's interactions with nearly every other system in the body.