MIT Researchers Say Light-Sensitive Devices Can Help Avoid Endoscopic Procedures

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a light-sensitive material that they say could replace certain gastrointestinal devices and the need for endoscopic procedures to remove them.

Devices made from the light-sensitive material would break down in the body when exposed to light from an ingestible LED.

Incorporating the material into medical devices could avoid many endoscopic procedures and would give doctors a faster and easier way to remove devices when they are no longer needed or are not functioning properly, the researchers said.

In a study in pigs, the researchers showed that devices made with the light-sensitive hydrogel can be triggered to break down after being exposed to blue or ultraviolet light from a small LED.