What are smart pills?

Technology is increasingly being integrated into various areas of human life, including medicine and pharmacy. So-called "smart" or "digital" pills, products developed at the intersection of physical and pharmaceutical sciences, are currently gaining widespread popularity. 

One of the first scientists to begin researching biodegradable electronics is Professor Christopher Bettinger. He and his colleagues at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, have made significant progress in this area. 

In particular, they developed "edible" devices. The idea is that the patient swallows a biodegradable capsule containing polymer electrodes that allow it to move. Once the device is in the gastrointestinal tract, it begins analyzing tissue conditions, stimulating muscles with electricity, or delivering medication. After serving its purpose, it is naturally eliminated from the body.

Capsule endoscopy is a promising area for the widespread use of "smart" pills. It involves a capsule with an embedded camera passing through the body, taking images of the gastrointestinal tract. However, such a capsule is not capable of, for example, collecting material from the gastrointestinal tract, and therefore its diagnostic ability is lower than that of an endoscopic procedure.

An example of such a development is the PillCam device, owned by the Israeli company Given Imaging. PillCam is a pill with a camera that remains in the intestines for eight hours and transmits images to a recording device.

A team of scientists from Stanford and Ohio State University created a caterpillar robot based on Kresling's origami. This robot can penetrate hard-to-reach places and overcome fluid resistance by harnessing friction and contracting individual body parts. The creators believe that their device can be used in endoscopy, biopsy, and for targeted drug delivery.

Completely edible electronics are currently in the experimental stage. This field is very promising, but it faces a number of challenges. Selecting materials is one of the most important, as many compounds and elements used in electronics are inedible, or can be consumed only in very small doses. Producing edible semiconductors is also not an easy task, and their role in the functioning of electronics is quite significant.