RoboCap- Robotic mucus-clearing capsule for enhanced drug delivery in the gastrointestinal tract

“Oral drug delivery of proteins is limited by the degradative environment of the gastrointestinal tract and poor absorption, requiring parenteral administration of these drugs. Luminal mucus represents the initial steric and dynamic barrier to absorption. To overcome this barrier, we [engineers at MIT] report the development of the RoboCap, an orally ingestible, robotic drug delivery capsule that locally clears the mucus layer, enhances luminal mixing, and topically deposits the drug payload in the small intestine to enhance drug absorption. RoboCap’s mucus-clearing and churning movements are facilitated by an internal motor and by surface features that interact with small intestinal plicae circulares, villi, and mucus.”      MORE

Image Credit:  Science.org