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New Delhi: Scientists from IIT Delhi and AIIMS New Delhi have successfully tested a swallowable “smart pill” that can collect microbiome samples directly from inside the intestine, a breakthrough that could significantly improve how digestive diseases are studied and diagnosed.
The project, funded by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), addresses a long-standing challenge in microbiome science. Gut microbes are now linked to conditions ranging from inflammatory bowel disease and infections to diabetes and neurological disorders. Nearly half of all cells in the human body are microbial, most of them residing in the gut and playing a vital role in digestion, immunity and metabolism. Yet studying them accurately has remained difficult because current tools are either invasive, such as endoscopy, or indirect, relying on stool samples.
The findings, published this month in the Wiley Online Library, are based on experiments in Sprague–Dawley rats. Researchers demonstrated that the pill-sized microdevice could autonomously move from the stomach into the intestine, collect site-specific samples and exit the body naturally without surgery or tissue injury.
In four out of five animals, the device completed intestinal transit safely and yielded sufficient genetic material for detailed microbial sequencing.
Developed at IIT Delhi’s Medical Microdevices and Medicine Laboratory, the device measures just 7 mm by 2.7 mm. It is encased in an enteric-coated gelatin shell that protects it from stomach acid. Once the pill reaches the intestine, the higher pH dissolves the coating, allowing intestinal fluid to enter. A specialised hydrogel then swells to seal the inlet, preventing contamination as the device continues its journey through the gut.
“To say there is a hidden universe of living microbes in our body is no exaggeration but a scientific reality — we call it the human microbiome. Just as we send rovers to explore outer space, we need miniaturised devices to explore the inner space of the human body,” said Prof. Sarvesh Kumar Srivastava, principal investigator at IIT Delhi.
Beyond bacteria, the smart pill was also able to detect intestinal alkaline phosphatase, an important biochemical marker of gut health, demonstrating its ability to sample both microbial and chemical signals. Using nanopore sequencing, researchers identified gut microbes down to the species level.
Co-senior author Dr. Samagra Agarwal from the Department of Gastroenterology and the Human Nutrition Unit at AIIMS New Delhi said direct study of the small intestine could open new clinical possibilities. “Understanding the microbes and chemicals released there could be key to early disease detection, monitoring chronic conditions and developing more targeted treatments,” he said.
While the research has so far been limited to animal studies, scientists say it offers strong proof of concept for future human applications, with the potential to reshape personalised medicine and gut health research.
