(Press-News.org) What if, instead of going into a sleep lab or being connected to monitoring devices, a patient could have their risk of obstructive sleep apnea measured by swallowing a pill? A new collaborative study from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a founding member of the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Celero Systems and West Virginia University, evaluated a wireless ingestible device that can accurately report vital signs like heart and respiratory rate. The team tested the device, known as the Vitals Monitoring Pill (VM Pill), in a pilot clinical study of 10 people with sleep apnea. It was also able to detect signs of opioid-induced respiratory depression in a preclinical model. Their results, published in Device, could transform how life-threatening events are monitored and prevented.
“We have developed an ingestible electronic capsule that detects different movements associated with specific vital signs,” said co-corresponding author Giovanni Traverso, MB, BChir, PhD, a gastroenterologist in the Brigham’s Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Endoscopy. Traverso is also an associate professor of mechanical engineering at MIT. “We anticipate that there will be broad applications for this device, with the potential to improve monitoring for sleep apnea and other breathing conditions.”
The development of wearable and portable monitoring devices can help promote survival through early detection and intervention. Similarly, patients with sleep apnea can also benefit from non-intrusive tracking of vitals. Obstructive sleep apnea, a condition in which the upper airway becomes partially or fully blocked when asleep, affects millions of adults in the United States. Evaluating sleep apnea usually involves connections to complicated monitoring devices that can be burdensome to the patient.
Additionally, the opioid epidemic has led to a dramatic rise in overdoses, fatal episodes of slow and shallow breathing, or respiratory depression. More than half of these overdoses occur when the individual is alone and outside medical facilities, where caregivers and healthcare providers cannot monitor signs of respiratory distress. Existing vital sign monitors are bulky and difficult to use without supervision.
Traverso and his collaborators first demonstrated accurate vital sign measurements by the VM Pill in a preclinical model. Information from the device was relayed to a receiver attached via USB interface to a laptop. They then collected 57 hours of data from ten subjects at the West Virginia University (WVU) Medicine Sleep Evaluation Center for the first-in-human pilot clinical study of the VM Pill.
They found that respiratory and heart rate data captured by the VM Pill was comparable to data from existing monitoring devices. Analysis of the data showed respiratory rhythms within the expected range of 9 to 25 breaths per minute, and cardiac signals within the range of 40 to 95 beats per minute.
The device was also able to capture moments when subjects stopped breathing, either by intentionally holding their breath, or during sleep apnea events. Interference from external sleep apnea monitoring devices did not affect signals from the VM Pill. Radiograph imaging after the study confirmed the excretion of the device without incident in all subjects.
In addition, the researchers also tested the device in a preclinical model of fentanyl overdose. The capsule was able to detect respiratory depression caused within a minute of overdose in real-time.
The authors note that their sleep apnea evaluation was limited to subjects who were sleeping or at rest in bed and further evaluation is needed to measure vital signs in a more natural use environment. The animal overdose model was also limited in that the animals were already anesthetized before opioids were administered.
Future work could test the device’s monitoring capabilities during gastrointestinal procedures lasting up to a week, unobtrusive detection of overdoses and interventions for diagnosis of sleep apnea.
“Our study provides a tangible product with real commercial value,” said Traverso, Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “Ingestible vital monitors can really transform our capacity to rapidly respond to life-threatening events.”
Celero Systems was founded in 2017 to develop and commercialize ingestible electronic devices like the VM Pill. Traverso is a founder and member of the board of directors for the company, which has licensed intellectual property related to the VM Pill from Mass General Brigham.
As a world-recognized leader in research and innovation, discoveries at Mass General Brigham have led to the creation of hundreds of new companies that have spurred scientific innovation and economic growth across Massachusetts, nation, and globe. These companies enable patients around the world to benefit from Mass General Brigham discoveries.
Authorship: Additional authors include Victor Finomore, Jr, James Mahoney III, Justin Kupec, Robert Stansbury, Daniel Bacher, Benjamin Pless, Shannon Schuetz, Alison Hayward, Robert Langer, Ali Rezai.
Disclosures: Bacher, Schuetz, and Pless are employees of Celero Systems, Inc. Langer, Hayward and Traverso have a financial interest in Celero Systems, Inc. Rezai is an advisor to Celero Systems, Inc. Bacher and Pless are co-inventors on published patent applications (US20210060317, EP4021271) encompassing the work described. Pless and Traverso are founders and members of the Board of Directors of Celero Systems, Inc.
Paper cited: Traverso, Giovanni et al. “First-in-human trial of an ingestible vitals monitoring pill” Device DOI: 10.1016/j.device.2023.100125
END
Ingestible vital signs monitor shows promise in first-in-human trial
New device developed by a company founded by Brigham researchers detected an opioid-overdose in preclinical models and captured respiratory rates and heart rates in 10 patients with sleep apnea
2023-11-17
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Putting an end to plastic separation anxiety
2023-11-17
Bio-based plastics such as polylactic acid (PLA) were invented to help solve the plastic waste crisis, but they often end up making waste management more challenging. Because these materials look and feel so similar to conventional, petroleum-based plastics, many products end up not in composters, where they break down as designed, but instead get added to the recycling stream by well-intentioned consumers. There, the products get shredded and melted down with the recyclable plastics, bringing down the quality of the mixture and making it harder to manufacture functional products out of recycled plastic resin. The only solution, currently, is to try to separate the different ...
Ingestible electronic device detects breathing depression in patients
2023-11-17
CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Diagnosing sleep disorders such as sleep apnea usually requires a patient to spend the night in a sleep lab, hooked up to a variety of sensors and monitors. Researchers from MIT, Celero Systems, and West Virginia University hope to make that process less intrusive, using an ingestible capsule they developed that can monitor vital signs from within the patient’s GI tract.
The capsule, which is about the size of a multivitamin, uses an accelerometer to measure the patient’s breathing rate and heart rate. In addition to diagnosing sleep apnea, the device could also be useful for detecting ...
Higher-dose fluvoxamine and time to sustained recovery in outpatients with COVID-19
2023-11-17
About The Study: Among outpatient adults with mild to moderate COVID-19, treatment with fluvoxamine 100 mg twice daily for 13 days, compared with placebo, did not improve time to sustained recovery in this randomized clinical trial of 1,175 participants.
Authors: Susanna Naggie, M.D., M.H.S., of the Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, North Carolina, is the corresponding author.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jama.2023.23363)
Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, ...
Educational outcomes for children at 7 to 9 years of age after birth at 39 vs 40 to 42 weeks’ gestation
2023-11-17
About The Study: In this study of 155,000 births, using a causal inference framework based on target trial emulation, birth at 39 weeks’ gestation was not associated with adverse numeracy and literacy outcomes at school age compared with birth at 40 to 42 weeks.
Authors: Roxanne Hastie, Ph.D., of the University of Melbourne, is the corresponding author.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.43721)
Editor’s Note: Please see the article for ...
State reporting requirements for involuntary holds, court-ordered guardianship, and the national firearm background check system
2023-11-17
About The Study: In this study of state laws, there was substantial heterogeneity in National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) reporting requirements for mental health prohibitions for firearm possession and a lack of clarity around processes. This raises questions about the ability of NICS to be used to block firearm purchases or possession by individuals with court-identified high risk of perpetrating violence toward themselves or others.
Authors: Marian E. Betz, M.D., M.P.H., of the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus School of Medicine in Aurora, is the ...
Benefits of adolescent fitness to future cardiovascular health possibly overestimated
2023-11-17
There is a well-known relationship between good physical fitness at a young age and a lower risk of cardiovascular disease later in life. However, when researchers adjusted for familial factors by means of sibling analysis, they found a weaker association, although the link between high body mass index (BMI) and cardiovascular disease remained strong. The study, which was conducted by researchers from Karolinska Institutet and other universities, is published in JAMA Network Open.
“This does not mean that fitness is irrelevant,” ...
Following a Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of cognitive decline in older people
2023-11-17
Old people who follow a Mediterranean diet are at a lower risk of cognitive decline, according to a study published in the journal Molecular Nutrition and Food Research. The study provides new evidence for a better understanding of the biological mechanisms related to the impact of the diet on cognitive health in the ageing population.
The study is led by Mireia Urpí-Sardá, adjunct lecturer and member of the Biomarkers and Nutritional & Food Metabolomics research group of the Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Sciences, the Institute for Nutrition and Food Safety (INSA-UB), the Food and Nutrition Torribera Campus of the University of Barcelona, and the CIBER on Frailty and ...
A deep-sea fish inspired researchers to develop supramolecular light-driven machinery
2023-11-17
The vision system, evolved over millions of years, is highly complex. To make vision sensitive throughout the whole range of visible wavelengths, Nature employs a supramolecular chemistry approach. The visual pigment, cis-retinal, changes its shape upon capturing a photon. This shape transformation is accompanied by changes in the supramolecular organization of the surrounding proteins, subsequently triggering a cascade of chemical signaling events that get amplified and eventually lead to visual perception in the brain.
“Some deep-sea fish have evolved antenna-like ...
Shedding light on unique conduction mechanisms in a new type of perovskite oxide
2023-11-17
The remarkable proton and oxide-ion (dual-ion) conductivities of hexagonal perovskite-related oxide Ba7Nb3.8Mo1.2O20.1 are promising for next-generation electrochemical devices, as reported by scientists at Tokyo Tech. The unique ion-transport mechanisms they unveiled will hopefully pave the way for better dual-ion conductors, which could play an essential role in tomorrow’s clean energy technologies.
Clean energy technologies are the cornerstone of sustainable societies, and solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and proton ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs) are among the most promising types of electrochemical devices for green power generation. These devices, however, still ...
UK’s Rural Physician Leadership Program, Anthem Medicaid announce new rural medicine scholarships
2023-11-17
MOREHEAD, Ky. (Nov. 17, 2023) — In celebration of National Rural Health Day, yesterday the University of Kentucky College of Medicine and Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Medicaid in Kentucky announced new scholarship opportunities for UK’s Rural Physician Leadership Program (RPLP). The Anthem Rural Medicine Scholarships will provide $100,000 to offset the cost of medical school for students in the RPLP.
In a state that suffers from high rates for many chronic, ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
KIST leads next-generation energy storage technology with development of supercapacitor that overcomes limitations
Urine, not water for efficient production of green hydrogen
Chip-scale polydimethylsiloxane acousto-optic phase modulator boosts higher-resolution plasmonic comb spectroscopy
Blood test for many cancers could potentially thwart progression to late stage in up to half of cases
Women non-smokers still around 50% more likely than men to develop COPD
AI tool uses face photos to estimate biological age and predict cancer outcomes
North Korea’s illegal wildlife trade threatens endangered species
Health care workers, firefighters have increased PFAS levels, study finds
Turning light into usable energy
Important step towards improving diagnosis and treatment of brain metastases
Maternal cardiometabolic health during pregnancy associated with higher blood pressure in children, NIH study finds
Mercury levels in the atmosphere have decreased throughout the 21st century
This soft robot “thinks” with its legs
Biologists identify targets for new pancreatic cancer treatments
Simple tweaks to a gene underlie the stench of rotten-smelling flowers
Simple, effective interventions reduce emissions from Bangladesh’s informal brick kilns
Ultrasound-guided 3D bioprinting enables deep-tissue implant fabrication in vivo
Soft limbs of flexible tubes and air enable dynamic, autonomous robotic locomotion
Researchers develop practical solution to reduce emissions and improve air quality from brick manufacturing in Bangladesh
Durham University scientists solve 500-million-year fossil mystery
Red alert for our closest relatives
3D printing in vivo using sound
Global Virus Network meeting unites Caribbean and Latin America to tackle emerging viral threats
MD Anderson Research Highlights for May 8, 2025
Study of Türkiye gold mine landslide highlights need for future monitoring
Researchers find new defense against hard-to-treat plant diseases
Characterization of research grant terminations at the National Institutes of Health
New study: high efficiency of severe thalassemia prevention with HTS based carrier screening
AI-designed DNA controls genes in healthy mammalian cells for first time
Veterans with depression have increased risk of heart failure: Study
[Press-News.org] Ingestible vital signs monitor shows promise in first-in-human trialNew device developed by a company founded by Brigham researchers detected an opioid-overdose in preclinical models and captured respiratory rates and heart rates in 10 patients with sleep apnea