This is the artificial stomach created by UNAM that is capable of simulating the human organ

MEXICO CITY (apro).- Scientists at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) have developed an artificial stomach capable of accurately emulating the movements of that organ and processing medicines, fruits and sausages.

Academics Gabriel Ascanio Gasca and Alberto Caballero Ruiz, from the Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology (ICAT) of the highest house of studies, developed this device to observe the dissolution of drugs, since these must disintegrate in a maximum of 20 minutes. Until now, the equipment for this purpose was only tanks with agitators.

Naturally, the esophagus transports the food bolus from the pharynx to the stomach, whose function is to control the flow, dose and prevent the flow from gastric acids, as well as store, mix and empty the bolus into the small intestine.

The device created by ICAT is translucent, allowing scientists to observe the degradation process of food and medicines. In addition, this instrument has soft membranes that replicate the gastric walls, which are subjected to pressure levels close to the ranges of the human organ.

“This is an artificial stomach with which we try to emulate the functioning of a human stomach. We have used it to disintegrate food very successfully with sausage and melon, and it works exactly the same as the natural organ, with three and a half cycles per minute, bile juices are added and we see the capacity to disintegrate food,” Ascanio Gasca explained to “Gaceta UNAM.”

Reproducing the lower part of the stomach is complex, as the artificial equipment repeats a phenomenon called peristalsis, which refers to a series of muscle contractions in the digestive tract, which could be recreated by the ICAT device.

The artificial stomach reproduces the mechanical movements of the real organ, which achieved better dissolution of food compared to conventional systems. With the development of this technology, scientists were able to demonstrate the importance of reproducing the movements of the stomach.