A gastric retentive robotic capsule enables emergency-prepared and responsive oral drug delivery in canine models
- Hao Huang
- Yunlong Fan
- Zhenlin Chen
- Huihui Hu
- Yidan Lyu
- Jia Xu
- Jiahang Xu
- Di Wu
- Yuelong Liang
- Qijiang Mao
- Jun Wang
- Haoyu Zhang
- Haoran Fu
- Yixin Guan
- Jian Chen
- Kaichen Xu
- Ha Uk Chung
- Xinge Yu
- Kewang Nan
2025-10-31
Existing oral drug delivery modalities often fall short in medical emergencies due to the absence of readily deployable, internalized drug storage and delivery mechanisms that combine long-term standby with rapid activation. To address this challenge, we develop and validate a gastric retentive robotic capsule capable of autonomously prepositioning multiple drug doses within the stomach upon oral administration. This system maintains quiescence for extended periods while enabling on-demand, remote-triggered drug release within seconds during emergencies. In a canine (beagle) model, we demonstrate safe gastric residence and functionality for at least 10 weeks, including closed-loop emergency drug delivery modulated by external or onboard biometric sensors for unsupervised symptom detection. At the end of its service life, the capsule can be safely excreted on-demand through the administration of an alkaline solution. These findings establish such a system as a paradigm for emergency-prepared and responsive drug delivery, particularly in vulnerable patient populations.