Engineers have developed a vibrating, swallowable capsule to suppress appetite. A device that could make weight loss easier was published in a magazine. Science Developments.
When the stomach tenses during a meal, special receptors are activated that send signals to the brain via the vagus nerve. As a result, a feeling of fullness occurs. In the new study, scientists designed a capsule whose vibrations stimulated the same stretch receptors in the stomach. This created a misleading feeling of fullness in the test animals: They took the capsule 20 minutes before a meal. The treatment reduced food intake by approximately 40%.
The vibrating capsule is about the same size as a multivitamin tablet. It gets its energy from a small silver oxide battery. When the capsule reaches the stomach, stomach acid dissolves the gelatin membrane and completes the electronic circuit that operates the vibrating motor. Enough energy to vibrate for 30 minutes. The capsule left the digestive tract of the experimental animals within four to five days.
Additionally, the vibration capsule led to an increase in C-peptide, peptide YY, and GLP-1 hormone levels. They work together to help people digest food and increase feelings of fullness. At the same time, the concentration of ghrelin, the hormone that causes hunger, also decreased. Drugs that mimic the effects of GLP-1, such as Ozempic and Vegovi, may aid weight loss, but most need to be injected and have more side effects than the vibrocapsule studied.
Now the study’s authors plan to explore ways to expand capsule production, which would enable clinical trials in humans.
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