A tiny pill with the potential to tackle big gut issues

A healthy gut is essential for overall well-being. It supports everything from nutrient absorption to immune function and keeping harmful substances out of the human body. However, monitoring gut health isn’t easy because the gastrointestinal tract is complex and challenging to access. Traditional procedures, such as endoscopy and colonoscopy, are not only unpleasant but also fail to provide a comprehensive view of the entire gastrointestinal tract.

According to the United European Gastroenterology (UEG) White Book 2, digestive problems affected more than 330 million people in Europe in 2019. Additionally, the recorded number of colorectal cases for the same year was 600,000, representing a 33% increase since 2000. Furthermore, 1,660,000 cases of inflammatory bowel disease were prevalent in the same year, an 18% increase since 2000.

Image: imec

Ingestible sensor and its potential

To address this gap in healthcare, a group of researchers at OnePlanet Research Center (OPRC) has designed an ingestible sensor to monitor gut health. The team has developed a device that tracks the path of food, enabling data collection and assessment of the gut's state.

The technology is a miniaturized sensor pill, measuring only 2.1 cm in length and 0.75 cm in width. “It’s a stack of three chips on top of each other, and inside the pill, there are two tiny batteries,” says Aniek Even, research and project lead for Ingestible Technologies at OPRC.

The sensor measures temperature, pH level of acidity in the gut, and redox balance – the body’s ability to maintain a healthy balance between processes that create waste and those that clean it up, helping everything run smoothly. “We’re the first worldwide to measure redox balance because there is still no tool available,” she explains, highlighting its potential to uncover new insights into digestive health.

This capability could unlock new insights into conditions like inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a chronic inflammatory condition of the digestive tract, and colorectal cancer, which the team is targeting in upcoming clinical trials. Furthermore, the sensor can collect data to diagnose digestive disorders with vague symptoms, such as indigestion and gastrointestinal motility issues.

Swallowed with a glass of water, as Even demonstrated at ITF World 2025, the sensor collects data every 20 seconds, with the operational period of 24 hours to one week, determined by the person’s gut mobility. “We envision that doctors will get an automated report based on this data. They do not have to go through all the raw data,” explains the researcher.

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Technical and commercial obstacles

Despite specific technical challenges, Even and her team succeeded in designing a device that is safe to use. “The tract breaks down everything that you ingest. And this was the journey that we also went through,” tells Even. They had to come up with a design that gives the sensor access to the gut environment, but at the same time is hermetically sealed and protected. “If liquid can come in, this means that it can stop working,” she shares.

Commercialization, however, requires additional regulatory steps and a refined manufacturing process. “We have a clear timeline, but it will take time,” Even adds, noting that the technology may eventually be commercialized through a spin-off from imec, OnePlanet’s parent organization.

Imec’s vision for preventive healthcare

Building on the ingestible sensor, imec is advancing a broader mission to digitize biology and personalize medicine for preventive healthcare. At ITF World 2025, Peter Peumans, CTO Health at imec, shares more about another non-invasive innovation: a laser and camera system that remotely monitors vital signs. By analyzing skin patterns, the system can measure heart rate, respiration, and tissue oxygenation, with potential future applications for blood pressure monitoring.

According to Peumans, these vitals could be monitored continuously, allowing for early detection and timely intervention when deviations occur. Like the ingestible sensor, this technology aims to reduce reliance on physical doctor visits, detect health issues early, and help develop more effective preventive methods.

Future ahead

Despite the benefits of preventive technologies, several challenges persist. Peumans outlines the scaling hurdles, including the complexity of integrating hardware, software, and cloud systems for commercialization. “If I give you the pill, for example, I also have to give you an app, and I have to give you a software stack that runs in the cloud to accumulate data,” he explains. This complex structure accompanies not only the ingestible sensor but also other technological devices that imec is developing.

Other regulatory and economic reasons hinder the adoption of advanced preventive technologies. "Currently, hospitals are not incentivized to minimize effort. They are incentivized to do as many actions as possible. On a national level, prevention is often neglected while there is funding for curing,” he notes. “As a technology organization, we have a limited ability to fix these bigger issues.”

Looking ahead, the clinical trials for the ingestible sensor are scheduled to begin this month.  They will provide critical data to validate its efficacy for conditions like IBD and colorectal cancer.  By generating comprehensive datasets, the ingestible sensor will demonstrate its capability as both a disease detection and a preventive device.