How Robotic Pills Could Revolutionize Traditional Medical Procedures

Patients began swallowing the first commercially built pill cameras in 2000, and since then doctors have used the capsules to get unprecedented views of places, such as the inner folds of the small intestine, that are otherwise difficult to reach without surgery. The first pill camera was invented in 2001 by Gavriel Iddan. Patients could swallow the small digital video camera with LEDs that illuminate surroundings. But long gone are those days where such procedures seemed fascinating. Today’s technology driven healthcare is replacing injections with robotic pills.

Such a pill would have seemed unthinkable years ago. But advancements in technology and scientific research have recently led federally approved robotic pills. Two most distinguished robotic pills were recently developed by Rani Therapeutics and Endiatx.

The RaniPill: Replacing Traditional Injections

The RaniPill capsule works like a miniature Rube Goldberg device: Once swallowed, the capsule travels to the intestines where the shell dissolves. The mixed chemicals inflate a balloon to push out a needle and pierce the intestinal wall to deliver a drug into the bloodstream.

In case you’re wondering, no, you won’t even notice it’s there or inflating a balloon inside your intestines. Rani Therapeutics claims its pill won’t cause any pain, unlike injections through the skin, and could even lower the cost of injections.

Image: Rani Therapeutics

Sounds simple, right?

However, it may not be simple, but so far, it’s working. San Jose-based Rani Therapeutics just announced the successful completion of the first human study of the pill. Their 20-person trial showed a drug-free version of the capsule which was well-tolerated, easy-to-swallow, and passed safely through the stomach and intestines. The pill is said to be roughly the size of a fish oil pill. Success was marked as numerous X-rays verified the location of the pill as it made its way through the subjects’ bodies.

RaniPill has no springs, electrical components, or metal parts. Rather its chemical signaling triggers a series of actions that lead to the dosing of a drug. The pill has a coating that keeps the device intact in the acidic environment of the stomach. As the device reaches the higher pH intestine, the capsule dissolves.

Surely, it would be interesting to see if the Ranipill can help patients get away with minor surgeries!

Endiatx PillBot: Replacing Traditional Endoscopies

An endoscopy is a procedure whereby a camera is swallowed by a patient, and a doctor can manipulate the camera to see the condition of the oesophagus and stomach. However, such procedures are expensive, uncomfortable, and carry risks including perforation of the stomach or damaging of soft tissue.

To solve this problem, Endiatx came up with an incredible solution- The Endiatx Pillbot. The Pillbot has 4 micro pump jets. These pump jets provide the pill with a propulsion system, and from there can navigate around the stomach like a drone.

Image: Endiatx

Endiatx First-In-Human Trial video:

Robotic Pills are set to revolutionize healthcare in ways we are yet to imagine. While Rani Therapeutics are set to use RaniPill for a variety of indications, including the growth hormone disorder acromegaly, diabetes and osteoporosis, Endiatix’s is working on making Pillbot smaller and easier to swallow.

Robotic pills like these help us visualize a promising future of medical procedures. Would surgeries be replaced? Would injections be replaced as well? Guess we have to stay tuned with the updates of the robotic pills to know for sure!