Channel Capacity of Starch and Glucose Molecular Communications in the Small Intestine Digestive Tract

TL;DR

This paper models the channel capacity of molecular communication in the small intestine, linking biological processes with information theory to inform personalized diets and health outcomes.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of molecular communication theory to the digestive system, modeling starch and glucose propagation and capacity in the small intestine.

Findings

Digestive capacity depends on physiological factors and food type.

Shorter gastric emptying time increases capacity.

Lower viscosity and efficient enzyme activity enhance digestion.

Abstract

The emerging field of Molecular Communication (MC) aims to characterize biological-based signaling environment through information that are encoded into molecules. Since the birth of this field, a number of different applications and biological systems have been characterized using MC theory. This study proposes a new application and direction for MC, focusing on the digestive system, where we characterize and model the starch and glucose propagation along the small intestine. Based on the advection-diffusion and reaction mechanisms, we define a channel capacity for the small intestine digestive tract that is dependent on the starch to glucose conversion, velocity flow within the tract, viscosity of the digest product, and length of the tract and position of the receivers for glucose absorption. The numerical results from the derived channel capacity model shows that the SI digestive capacity depends both on physiological factors of the digestive system and type of consumed food, where the digestive capacity is greater for shorter gastric emptying time, low viscosity of the digest product and efficient enzyme activity. We believe that our digital MC model of the digestive tract and lead to personalized diet for each individual, which can potentially avoid a number of different diseases (e.g., celiac disease).