A Berry-Sized Thermometer Measures Body Temp. But You Have to Eat It.
The device uses backscatter communication and a 1-square-millimeter chip to deliver 0.01-degree Celsius accuracy with very low power, researchers said.
- MIT engineers unveiled a blueberry-sized ingestible sensor designed to provide continuous core body temperature readings directly from the GI tract.
- Current ingestible sensors often resemble large multivitamins, making them difficult to swallow and posing a potential risk of obstructing the GI tract due to their complex internal circuits.
- The device features a 1-square-millimeter silicon chip measuring 6 millimeters in diameter and 4 millimeters in height, powered by a 1.55-volt coin cell battery and using backscattering technology to minimize energy consumption.
- "The reason for them to be small is safety," Traverso said, emphasizing that the compact design enables continuous monitoring to identify infections and dangerous fevers in at-risk patients.
- Researchers tested the sensors in animals both under anesthesia and while awake and moving, with the team now hoping to begin clinical trials within the next few years.
12 Articles
12 Articles
We May Soon Be Swallowing Our Thermometers En Masse
Thermometers you swallow without risk of blockage may be coming. MIT engineers have built a tiny sensor about the size of a blueberry that, once ingested, tracks core body temperature from the inside. The capsule, described in Nature Electronics , beams out a reading every second using an ultra-low-power chip and...
Engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) designed an ingestable thermometer, a “blueberry-sized” sphere, according to their developers, capable of sending continuous updates of the central temperature of the body from the gastrointestinal tract. This technological advance seeks to overcome the limitations of traditional skin or mouth thermometers, which do not always accurately reflect the actual internal temperature.The devi…
A berry-sized thermometer measures body temp. But you have to eat it.
Body temperature is considered a crucial vital sign of general health, but getting a reading with an oral or forehead thermometer does not always tell the whole story. And getting an internal by putting a thermometer up the rectum is not exactly the most pleasant experience. Those rectal reading days could be numbered. A new ingestible sensor developed at MIT can send doctors continuous body temperature readings right from the GI tract, and cou…
Measuring body temperature is one of the most basic and, at the same time, most important tools for monitoring the state of health. From infections to alterations caused by certain medical treatments, fever remains a fundamental warning signal, especially in vulnerable patients, children or people with compromised defenses. However, obtaining continuous and accurate monitoring of the internal temperature of the body remains a challenge for curre…
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