Edible technology for the Autonomous Tracking of gastrointestinal health

forthcoming

"EAT will demonstrate the first Proof-of-Concept (PoC) of a fully edible smart pill for safe, accessible, and autonomous monitoring of gastrointestinal (GI) physiology. GI, metabolic, and nutritional disorders represent a growing global challenge, with high prevalence, rising healthcare costs, and major impact on quality of life. Breakthroughs in their prevention and timely treatment require continuous monitoring of GI physiology, but suitable tools are still missing. Available ingestible technologies, such as capsule endoscopies and smart pills, are powerful, but are costly, present health hazards that limit the population who can adopt them, typically require medical supervision, and may contribute to electronic waste if not recollected after excretion. These features make current ingestible devices completely unsuitable for continuous monitoring of the GI physiology, as part of daily routines and point-of-care settings. EAT will validate an edible smart pill PoC with in-vitro experimental tests in simulated GI fluids. Built entirely from materials proven safe for ingestion, including edible batteries, sensors, and circuits, the pill naturally decomposes in the digestive tract, avoiding retention risks and electronic waste. Its initial application will target gastric emptying time, a key parameter for GI motility disorders, metabolic health, and drug absorption. The pill transmits signals via intrabody communication to an external patch, which manages processing and wireless transfer. This shift reduces the pill complexity and power needs, enabling viable edible electronics for safe and accessible monitoring. EAT builds directly on the ERC Consolidator Grant ""Electronic Food"" (ELFO) and will deliver the first proof of feasibility of edible electronics in real-world healthcare, opening the way to continuous, non-invasive, and sustainable monitoring solutions. "