People with the chronic stomach condition known as gastroparesis, or slow stomach emptying, live in fear that eating will cause an episode of nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.
Diagnosing the disorder can take months of testing, and often invasive procedures. Now, a new Smart Pill is making the process quick and easy at The University of Kansas Hospital, the only hospital in the region to use this technology and the only tertiary University hospital in the country to offer this novel diagnostic tool as a standard clinical test. Gastroparesis is common in diabetics, whose high blood sugar can destroy the stomach's vital vagus nerve, preventing stomach muscles from contracting. Currently, they must endure a gauntlet of invasive, expensive, and often inconclusive tests with different standardizations in different medical centers. Now, a patient simply swallows the Smart Pill and goes about their daily routine.
The small capsule, about the size of a multivitamin, contains sensors and a radio transponder. As it passes through the stomach, intestines and bowel, it transmits critical diagnostic information--such as pH, temperature and the amount of pressure in the stomach and intestines--to a receiver that the patient wears either on a lanyard or attached to a belt. A few days later, when the pill has made its way through the system, the doctor downloads the data from the receiver to a computer, and has an accurate picture of how the patient's stomach is working, and can offer that patient the best treatment plan.