SBIR Phase I: An Ingestible Intraluminal Bioelectronic Capsule (IBC) for Closed-Loop Diagnosis and Treatment of Gastrointestinal Disorders

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project focuses on multi-modal gastrointestinal measurements for rapid detection and treatment of post-surgical complications. Over 300,000 patients in the US undergo abdominal resection surgery each year. These patients often experience serious complications, such as post-operative ileus, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, and anastomotic leakage, that significantly impact quality of life. Treating complications extends hospitalization time at a rate of $2,000 per day; for post-operative ileus alone, additional costs due to prolonged hospitalization time exceed $1.5 billion annually. Rapid detection and treatment of these complications could accelerate recovery, enable closed-loop therapies, and increase quality of life. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will develop new sensing modalities for detecting post-surgical complications, combining them into a single miniaturized capsule which can be used for in vivo scientific research studies, and testing this device using a porcine model. This project focuses on developing multi-modal sensing technologies to non-invasively diagnose these complications. Completion of the aims of this project will pave the way towards telemetric, closed-loop therapies for post-operative gastrointestinal complications. In addition, data gathered and tools developed during this effort will inform future studies using a porcine model of gastrointestinal perturbation and recovery. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.