MIT engineers have developed an ingestible capsule that vibrates to create a sense of fullness and one day may be used to treat obesity. Users will just need to swallow this device before a meal and it then vibrates for 30 minutes after arriving in the stomach.
Researchers game animals this pill 20 minutes before a meal and discovered that in addition to stimulating the release of hormones that signal satiety, it also reduced their food intake by about 40 percent. How so? Once the vibration begins, it activates mechanoreceptors, which send signals to the brain through stimulation of the vagus nerve, mirroring the hormone release patterns seen following a meal, even when the animals had fasted.
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The behavioral change is profound, and that’s using the endogenous system rather than any exogenous therapeutic. We have the potential to overcome some of the challenges and costs associated with delivery of biologic drugs by modulating the enteric nervous system,” said Giovanni Traverso, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at MIT.
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