Capsule Robot for Obesity Treatment With Wireless Powering and Communication

An intragastric balloon robot is a less invasive and effective method for morbid obesity treatment. Traditional balloon robots need insertion tools and endoscopes for placement and removal of balloons in the stomach, which may cause complications such as nausea and sickness. This paper proposes a novel capsule robot for obesity treatment with wireless powering and communication. It is placed in the stomach through patient's swallowing and esophagus squirming motions. The balloon in the capsule system is then inflated and occupies the stomach to arouse the feeling of satiation. The wireless powering and communication systems are embedded into the capsule and the module outside of the human body for system operation control and energy supply. Sleeping mode is included in the electric circuit design to save power consumption. A research prototype is developed, and the system performance is tested with experiments. In addition, in vivo and in vitro experiments are conducted to validate system functionalities. The current prototype is used for principle verification and cannot be swallowed yet. The size of the capsule will be optimized and decreased further in future work.