A developer of capsule-based medical devices based in Buffalo, N.Y., has begun trials of the SmartPill GI Monitoring System for use in animal health.

Already used to evaluate human patients, the SmartPill pH.p Capsule and SmartPill GI Monitoring System can aid in the evaluation of gastrointestinal motility disorders. The SmartPill pH.p Capsule is a wireless, ingestible medical device–about the size of a large vitamin pill–that measures pressure, pH, and temperature, as well as providing gastric emptying time, combined small and large bowel transit time, and total transit time.

The Capsule travels through the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, collecting and transmitting data to the SmartPill Data Receiver worn by the patient. When the test is complete, the data is downloaded to a computer for analysis.

The animal trials are being conducted at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine by Frank M. Andrews, DVM, professor and section chief of Large Animal Medicine, and Robert Denovo, DVM, professor and head of Small Animal Clinical Sciences. The primary aim of the trial is to validate the use of the SmartPill for the measurement of transit time, pH, temperature, and luminal pressure in the gastrointestinal tracts of horses and dogs