Lab-on-a-pill for In-vivo Spatial Sampling of Gut Microbiome
Abstract
Lab-on-a-pill for In-vivo Spatial Sampling of Gut MicrobiomeLab-on-a-pill for In-vivo Spatial Sampling of Gut Microbiome. The gut microbiome has been shown to have profound effects on the development and maintenance of immune system in both animal models and in humans. A growing body of evidence has implicated the human gut microbiome in a range of disorders, including obesity, inflammatory bowel diseases, cancer and cardiovascular disease. The gut microbiome represents 100 trillion bacteria, majority of which belong to a thousand or so bacterial species. Studies examining this bacterial content have shown wide variations in which species are present between individuals. Current studies only provide the overall constitution of gut microbiome as determined from the metabolic and genomic analysis of fecal matter. This however fails to identify which area of large or small intestine the bacterial species colonize and how they interact with one another and with the host. To gain new insights into the role of gut microbiome, it is of utmost importance that one is able to sample the microbiome at different locations in the gut to obtain a spatial distribution profile. Such studies are currently not possible with the fecal matter analysis. The objective of the proposed research is to investigate if such sampling of gut microbiome is possible in vivo. We hypothesize that a biocompatible lab-on-a-pill with integrated sampler (four different kinds are proposed), sensor, energy source and electronics can be used for in vivo sampling of gut microbiome for downstream metabolic or genomic analysis. The aim of this research effort is to explore the design and fabrication of such a lab-on-a-pill and to validate it in vitro and in vivo in a mouse model of colitis.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Nov 23, 2016
- Source ID
- N000141612550
Entities
People
- Sameer R Sonkusale
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- Tufts University
- United States Navy