A robotic capsule that delivers drugs to the intestines

Oral administration is the most common and cost-effective mode
of administration.
But before the drug can be absorbed, it must pass through the harsh acidic environment of the stomach, resist the degradation of enzymes, penetrate the barrier formed by mucus in the small intestine, and overcome many other obstacles
.
Because of these challenges, many drugs — including common drugs like insulin — must be delivered
by other means.
Researchers from Brigham Women's Hospital (a founding member of Brigham's Integrated Health System) and MIT developed RoboCap, an orally digestible robotic drug delivery device that overcomes many challenges in the gastrointestinal environment to deliver payloads
.
The team tested
the device in preclinical models using insulin and vancomycin, an antibiotic that is usually given intravenously.
When RoboCap's gel-like coating is taken, it dissolves in the stomach
.
The environment of the small intestine activates RoboCap, which clears mucus by vibration and rotation, enhances mixing, and deposits drug loads in the small intestine, as the small intestine may absorb the drug
.
In the pig model, RoboCap increased the drug permeability of insulin and vancomycin by a factor of more than
10.

"Peptides and proteins are important drugs, but the degradation environment and poor absorption of the gastrointestinal tract limit the ability of these drugs to be taken orally," said co-corresponding author C.
Thompson.
Giovanni Traverso, MB, BChir, Ph.
D.
, from the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Endoscopic of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Brigham University and MIT
.
RoboCap's mucus cleansing and agitation campaign is designed to overcome these barriers and help get medications where they are needed
.
”