Revolutionizing Endoscopic Examinations: Miniature Swallowable Capsule

Endoscopic examinations tend to be very unpleasant for the patient, but at the same time, in some cases they are simply necessary. A standard endoscopic examination takes place in such a way that a flexible tube with a small camera or small instruments at the end is inserted into the digestive tract through the patient’s throat.

The doctor on the monitor can then examine the digestive tract from the inside and locate, for example, a tumor or stomach ulcer. In some cases, it is necessary to put the patient under general anesthesia, and the entire procedure will therefore involve several doctors. Therefore, many researchers around the world are trying to develop some alternative that would simplify the work of doctors and at the same time reduce the discomfort of patients associated with the examination.

One such team is a team of researchers from George Washington University, who have built a miniature pill that can be easily swallowed. Thanks to this pill, doctors can observe in real time what is happening inside the digestive tract. According to the developers, this is the first pill of its kind.

This “capsule endoscopy” also relieves patients who do not have to undergo anesthesia. They simply swallow the capsule and can continue to function normally. The new technology is currently called NaviCam and is being developed in collaboration with AnX Robotica, a medical technology company.

The length of this capsule is 27 millimeters and it carries a miniature camera with a resolution of 640 x 480 px. During the entire examination, the patient lies on a special magnetic bed, which is controlled by the doctor using a joystick. The capsule is magnetic, and thanks to the differently developed magnetic field, the doctor can move the capsule in a 5D plane (3D linear movement and 2D rotational movement).

During the entire examination, the camera captures video continuously in its field of view of 160 degrees. There is another alternative, one developed at MIT and introduced earlier this year. Unfortunately, it does not include a camera. So it looks like the NaviCam pill is not the first of its kind, but it is probably the best of the prototypes developed so far.