Brown University scientists describe a new system that can safely hold a magnetic gelatin capsule in place anywhere in the gastrointestinal tract of a rat. In humans, the system could improve drug delivery.
The problem with administering many medications orally is that a pill often will not dissolve at the site in the gastrointestinal tract where the medicine can be absorbed into the bloodstream. The new magnetic pill system developed by the researchers could solve the problem by safely holding a pill in place in the intestine wherever it needs to be.
The scientists describe the harmless operation of their magnetic pill system in rats online the week of Jan. 17 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Applied to people in the future, said senior author Edith Mathiowitz, the technology could provide a new way to deliver many drugs to patients, including those with cancer or diabetes. It could also act as a powerful research tool to help scientists understand exactly where in the intestine different drugs are best absorbed.
Read more about this from original source: http://news.brown.edu/pressreleases/2011/01/magnetpill
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