British scientists have built what they say is the world’s first artificial stomach: a shiny, high-tech box that physically simulates human digestion.
Constructed from sophisticated plastics and metals able to withstand the corrosive acids and enzymes found in the human gut, the device may ultimately help in the development of super-nutrients, such as obesity-fighting foods that could fool the stomach into thinking it is full.
Bigger than a desktop computer
Wickham’s patented artificial gut is a two-part model that is slightly larger than a desktop computer. The top half consists of a funnel in which food, stomach acids and digestive enzymes are mixed. Once this hydration process is finished, the food gets ground down in a silver metal tube encased in a dark, transparent box.
Software sets the parameters of the artificial gut — how long food remains in a particular part of the stomach, predicted hormone responses at various stages, and whether it is an infant or adult gut.
Unlike previous gut models, Wickham’s model incorporates the physiological elements of digestion, including the stomach contractions that break up food and move it along the assembly line of human digestion.
The model gut’s focus on the physical and chemical reactions that take place in the stomach promises to provide a more detailed understanding of food structure and its impact on digestion.
So real it can even vomitWith a capacity about half the size of an actual stomach, the artificial gut can “eat” roughly 24 ounces of food. To date, the most substantial meal it’s enjoyed is vegetable soup.
“It’s so realistic that it can even vomit,” adds Wickham.
The model gut, which was funded by the British government, was built at a cost of approximately $1.8 million.
