To diagnose any kind of gastrointestinal problems, an ingestible sensor equipped with a genetically engineered bacteria was developed by an MIT research team. This ‘bacteria-on-a-chip’ combined sensors with ultra-low-power electronics, which could convert the bacterial response into a wireless signal that can be read by a smartphone.

Anantha Chandrakasan, the dean of MIT’s School of Engineering said, “The focus of this work is on system design and integration to combine the power of bacterial sensing with ultra-low-power circuits to realize important health sensing applications.”

The research team from MIT designed sensors that could respond to heme - a component of blood. They engineered a probiotic strain of E. coli to deliver a genetic circuit. When the bacteria encounter heme, it would emit light and the information would reach the microprocessor, which sends a wireless biological signal to a nearby computer or smartphone. The research team built an Android app in order to analyze the data. They also loaded the sensor with a 2.7-volt battery, so that the device could be used continuously for about 1.5 months.

This research work was done to detect the bleeding in the stomach region. It can either be applied for one-time use or remain in the digestive tract for several weeks.