MIT Engineers Develop Vibrating Pill to Reduce Food Intake by 40%

The Vibrating Ingestible BioElectronic Stimulator (VIBES) pill tricks the brain into feeling full, potentially offering a new approach to weight loss.

• Engineers from MIT have developed a Vibrating Ingestible BioElectronic Stimulator (VIBES) pill that can reduce food intake by 40% by stimulating sensory nerves in the stomach wall.
• The VIBES pill, about the size of a large vitamin, contains a tiny motor that starts vibrating when it hits the stomach, tricking the brain into thinking the stomach is full.
• Tested on pigs, the VIBES pill was associated with a rise in hormones that indicate the brain is no longer in hunger mode and resulted in the pigs eating 40% less.
• The current version of VIBES is designed to vibrate for 30 minutes after arriving in the stomach, but researchers plan to explore the possibility of it remaining there longer, with the ability to be able to turn it on or off wirelessly.
• Researchers are now looking for ways to increase the device's operating time and scale its design for clinical trials in humans.

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