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+--- Thread: Polymer-coated ‘robotic pills’ may change healthcare (/thread-1092.html)
Polymer-coated ‘robotic pills’ may change healthcare - C C - Jul 6, 2015
https://www.polymersolutions.com/blog/the-robot-is-in-polymer-coated-robotic-pills-may-change-healthcare/
EXCERPT: People have long been fascinated with the possibility of shrinking down to miniscule size and going on zany medical adventures inside the human body. Whether it was in the 1966 film "Fantastic Voyage," "The Magic School Bus," or the animated film "Osmosis Jones," we seem to believe we could better control diseases if we just went inside someone's body and made repairs ourselves.
[...] Recent research and inventions indicate it may soon be possible to prescribe a robot – instead of a shot or capsule – to deliver necessary doses of medicine to patients. This isn't to live out some science-fiction fantasy. It's grounded in the hopes of creating less invasive, more effective treatments for patients. While more development and funding remains, the initial results are promising.
[...] Here is exactly how the ingenious pill works:
1. After being swallowed, the pill travels through the body until it reaches the small intestine.
2. There, the small intestine's pH balance dissolves the specialized polymer coating of the pill along with a wall that separates citric acid from sodium bicarbonate.
3. When those two chemicals come in contact, they produce carbon dioxide, which inflates a miniature balloon.
4. Attached to the balloon are tiny syringes made of sugar and containing whatever drug is prescribed. The inflated balloon pushes those needles into the intestinal wall, which has no pain receptors.
5. The needles detach from the pill, which passes safely through the body. The needles dissolve over time after they've delivered the dosage to blood vessels in the area.
[...] before the alleged miracle pill gains approval, it must first pass through rigorous testing...