Implantable Mini LEDs Stimulate Colonic Transit

If findings from a mouse study can be replicated in human trials, light-emitting diodes may prove to be an effective method for increasing gastrointestinal transit and treating motility disorders. Researchers in the United States and Australia have shown that LEDs that emit blue light can stimulate colonic contractions and propel feces through the GI tract.

Senior investigator Nick Spencer, PhD, president of the Australasian Neurogastroenterology and Motility Society and professor in human physiology at the Flinders University School of Medicine, in South Australia, said optogenetics—the use of light to control living cells—is being explored for stimulation of the central nervous system, among other indications, but has not been applied to the GI tract.