Atmo Biosciences built a capsule the size of a vitamin. You swallow it, it senses the gases in your gut as it travels, and it radios out the data. The tech came out of RMIT in Melbourne.
How it works
The capsule tracks how fast things move through your stomach, small bowel and colon. That gives a doctor a picture of gut transit time without a scope.
What it replaces
Testing gut motility has usually meant hospital procedures like gastric scintigraphy, which involves eating a radioactive meal and lying under a scanner. With Atmo’s capsule, you go about your day while it works.
The evidence
The pivotal study enrolled 209 participants across 12 sites, 11 in the US and 1 in Australia. The company says it achieved its primary objectives.
The clearance
In mid 2025 the US FDA cleared the Atmo Gas Capsule System through the 510(k) pathway. It is cleared to help diagnose gut motility disorders such as gastroparesis and slow transit constipation, conditions that affect millions of people who can go years without a clear answer.
The backing
Atmo raised an A$8M Series B led by Japanese pharma company Otsuka, an existing shareholder that took more than its share. CEO Mal Hebblewhite is now looking at what else the capsule can detect.
My read
Melbourne shrank a hospital test into a pill you swallow. FDA clearance is the hard part for a device like this, and Atmo has it. The next test is whether doctors in the US actually change how they diagnose.