British Scientists Create First Artificial Stomach!

In order to further our understandings as to what happens inside the gut, British scientists have created the world's first artificial stomach. The device was created at the Norwich's Institute of Food Research by Martin Wickham and colleagues. Designed using very sophisticated plastics and metals, the artificial stomach can ingest real food while it imitates the chemical and physical reactions that occur during digestion...even vomit when neccessary!

The top half of the artificial stomach is made up of a vessel where food, stomach acids, and digestive enzymes are mixed. Once the "hydration process" is complete, the food gets broken down into smaller fragments that will eventually be absorbed by the human body.

Although the design holds only half the capacity of a natural human stomach, it plays a major role in helping scientists understand how food gets processed and which nutrients get absorbed. This knowledge could prove very beneficiary for medications down the road. For example, knowing how quickly glucose gets absorbed into the bloodstream may potentially help treat patients with diabetes.

The artificial stomach has already attracted enormous attention from many major companies. Certain food companies want to use the artificial stomach to tests new products and see which nutrients get absorbed. Also, one wishes to test soil contaminants inside the artificial stomach in order to see if accidental ingestion of the soil may lead to serious potential problems.

http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news/British-scientists-create-artificial-stomach-15754-1/