Soon, your stomach might be able to use Wi-Fi. It might work like a cell phone or a computer. The stomach will send updates to another device. These updates could let doctors know what is going on inside your body.

First, you would have to swallow a special pill. The pill has a Wi-Fi transmitter in it. It unfolds inside the body. The Wi-Fi pill goes to your stomach and gets energy there. This energy comes from a chemical reaction. The reaction is between special metal and your stomach juices.

Next, the Wi-Fi pill can record your body temperature. It sends the information to a computer outside the body. Then, the pill breaks down. It passes through the body.

The pill can work for almost one week.

It is important that the Wi-Fi pill can take your temperature. Normally, people use thermometers to take their temperature. They test people's mouths, armpits or skin. But they are not always correct. This can lead to risks for patients during treatments.

The Wi-Fi pill could lead to other breakthroughs. An example is giving medicine little by little from inside a person's stomach. The pill could also look at how the body is working from the inside, said Giovanni Traverso. He is a doctor in Boston. He is one of the makers of these devices.

The Wi-Fi pills were tested in pigs. Each pill let energy enter and leave. It had a temperature sensor. The pill also had a Wi-Fi transmitter. The information beamed to another device outside the pigs' bodies.

The Wi-Fi pill moved through the stomach and intestines of the pigs. It tracked body temperatures for six days. The pill did not seem to harm the pigs. Still, scientists will study it more before giving it to people.

They also want to make the pill even smaller.

“When I show it to people they say, ‘I’m not going to swallow that!'” said Philip Nadeau. He is an engineer who helped make the Wi-Fi pill.

Traverso thinks taking temperatures is only one use for the Wi-Fi pill. The team has already looked at measuring the heart and breathing, too.