Pseudobezoar-Based Intraluminal Gastrointestinal Cleansing and Biospy

摘要

The present disclosure describes an orally administrable implement comprising expandable material designed specifically to swell in a targeted gastrointestinal (Gl) organ of a mammal, including human to form a pseudobezoar, so that upon swelling it touches the walls of the targeted organ. In one design, the swollen pseudobezoar provides sponge-like cleansing of the targeted Gl organ to prepare the said organ for further examination. In another design the expandable material scrapes the walls of the targeted Gl organ by creating a sufficient friction tension between its permeable wails and the mucosa of the Gl organ walls to collect enough adequate tissue samples, occult blood, or both, for the purpose of tissue sample analysis, DNA analysis, occult blood analysis, or a combination thereof. Safety mechanisms for the controlled disintegration of the pseudobezoars in cases of possible obstruction are also described.

主权项

1. An orally administrable implement for expanding in a targeted gastrointestinal organ of an animal, including a mammal, to touch the walls of the organ, comprising:
(a) an organ-targeting capsule shell arranged to rapidly disintegrate in the targeted gastrointestinal organ; (b) a fluid-permeable expandable container contained within the organ-targeting capsule shell and having a first dimension, the fluid-permeable expandable container being expandable to a second dimension of sufficient size to contact organ walls of the targeted gastrointestinal organ from inside said targeted gastrointestinal organ; (c) at least one cluster contained within the container comprising a swellable material arranged to swell when contacted with a fluid;wherein the implement is ingestible for subsequent disintegration of the organ-targeting capsule shell inside the targeted gastrointestinal organ, whereupon the fluid in the said organ enters the fluid-permeable expandable container causing the at least one cluster therein to swell and the container to expand from the first dimension to the second dimension so that the swollen implement touches the walls of the targeted gastrointestinal organ.