Vibrating Pill Cures Obesity? New Tech Is Sci-Fi Come To Life
The latest in the ongoing trend of sci-fi tropes becoming reality: a vibrating pill developed by MIT scientists significantly curbing obesity. The technology constitutes a groundbreaking development in the fight against weight gain, which the pill purports to reduce. Despite its cutting-edge package, the innovative approach nonetheless draws from an age-old advice: drink a glass of water before meals to feel full.
Scientists hope the technology will revolutionize weight loss strategies and offer an alternative to conventional dieting methods, such as surgery and expensive medications. Simulating the all-familiar sensation of being full is the key concept behind the vibrating pill. Indeed, dieticians have long counseled clients to imbibe a healthy portion of water before eating.
How It Works
The MIT researchers developing the capsule adhered to a similar principle, but one taking a much more direct approach. Specifically, the pill is intended to stimulate the stomach’s mechanoreceptors. These, in turn, send signals to the brain through the vagus cranial nerve.
Cumulatively, this activation commences the production of various hormones in the brain. These include insulin, GLP-1, C-peptide, and PYY—all of which collaboratively reduce hunger and enhance the digestion process.
Good news for dieters long disappointed by the fad diets and endless stream of exercise regimes: initial tests of the vibrating pill in laboratory settings led to promising results.
The research team found that animals fed the pill 20 minutes before eating exhibited a reduction in food consumption by 40 percent. Simply put, the high-tech pill’s ability to leverage and regulate the body’s endogenous system engenders decreased appetite.
Simulating the all-familiar sensation of being full is the key concept behind the vibrating pill.
Most remarkably, as an associate professor at MIT Giovanni Traverso highlighted, the capsule employs the body’s innate biology instead of external, potentially harmful agents to promote weight loss.
What emerges is a potentially powerful, even revolutionary tool for treating obesity—one largely harnessing the human body’s internal system to achieve improved health.
That being said, the vibrating pill has a slightly disconcerting appearance—reminiscent of something behind the origin story of a superhero like Cyborg more than something you pick up at the pharmacy.
A silver oxide battery powers a vibrating motor inside the capsule—itself the size of a typical multi-vitamin. The pill exhibits novel design and ingenious application: upon reaching the stomach, its outer layer dissolves in the surrounding gastric acid. This process then finalizes the electrical circuit and initiates the vibration.
Of course, following their tests on animals, the scientists behind the pill now focus on ensuring the technology is as safe and feasible for human consumption as possible. As compelling and promising as the vibrating pill’s efficacy is, it’s easy to see people reluctant to swallow a miniature motor–at least until human trials are safely and transparently complete.
The research team found that animals fed the pill 20 minutes before eating exhibited a reduction in food consumption by 40 percent.
Additionally, scaling up production remains a priority and perhaps a challenge. Manufacturing—of drugs, iPhones, or EVs, for that matter—often proves an under appreciated obstacle in tech.
Challenges aside, researchers like post-doc Shriya Srinivasan exhibit optimism; Srinivasan believes the pill could be produced cost-effectively and at an enormous scale.
For its part, the vibrating pill joins a burgeoning trend in medical research, one exploring the possibilities of capsule-based tech. From ingestible sensors to advanced micro-robotic systems, the future increasingly appears characterized by medical treatments reduced to the mere act of swallowing a pill.
Source: MIT
