Patent ID: 8870767

Claim:
A method to detect a specific bacterium in a hollow organ of the gastrointestinal tract of a subject, comprising the steps of: storing an initial substance in a reservoir of an endocapsule, said reservoir having an opening that communicates an interior of said reservoir with an exterior environment of said endocapsule, said initial substance being resorbable by said bacterium; maintaining said opening covered with an electronically operable closure element to confine said initial substance to said interior of said reservoir; providing said endocapsule with a measurement chamber having an interior in which a sensor is located that detects at least one metabolic product associated with said bacterium; closing off said interior of said measurement chamber from said exterior environment of said endocapsule except for a membrane that is semi-permeable for said at least one metabolic product; introducing said endocapsule into said gastrointestinal tract of the subject; from a control unit in said endocapsule, electronically operating said closure element to uncover said opening and introduce said initial substance into the hollow organ of the subject, by releasing said initial substance from the reservoir, and thereby causing said initial substance to be resorbed by the bacterium, when the bacterium is present in the hollow organ, so as to generate said at least one metabolic product from interaction of the initial substance with the bacterium when said bacterium is present in the hollow organ; and only after a defined time following uncovering of said opening, that allows intensified accumulation of said at least one metabolic product in said measurement chamber via said membrane while said endocapsule is located in the gastrointestinal tract of the subject, initiating operating said sensor from said control unit to detect said intensified accumulation of said metabolic product in said measurement chamber, and using the detected at least one metabolic product as an indication of the presence of said bacterium in the hollow organ, and emitting an extracorporeally detectable data signal from said control unit that represents said indication.