The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) awarded the University of Maryland, College Park $393,217 on February 18, 2026, under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855) to develop a bioimpedance sensing capsule for measuring intestinal permeability in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The project, which extends through January 31, 2028, adapts an ingestible capsule platform to collect real-time multimodal measurements—including pH, pressure, and bioimpedance—of epithelial tissues throughout the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. This technology addresses a critical diagnostic gap by enabling direct assessment of barrier integrity and tissue inflammation in patients with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, conditions that currently rely on limited endoscopic visualization and lack explicit physiological measurement capabilities.
The deliverables include development of a functional ingestible capsule device equipped with bioimpedance sensors and supporting sensing components, validation of the device's ability to correlate changes in bioimpedance with intestinal permeability in the GI tract, and demonstration of safe gastrointestinal transit through animal models. The research builds on prior work demonstrating capsule-embedded bioimpedance sensors for wireless tissue permeability monitoring in excised colonic tissue and colitis models, with the goal of expanding diagnostic approaches for early detection of inflammatory GI diseases. The multimodal sensing approach is designed to provide clinicians with novel physiological data not readily accessible through traditional diagnostic methods, supporting improved disease assessment and patient management.