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Capsule camera, endoscopic capsule or video pill is a camera with the size and shape of pill. This device is being promoted as an alternative to an endoscopy and has the potential to be a valuable tool to gastroenterologists. The camera may assist in detecting cancer, ulcers and other types of internal medical ailments. The first such device was invented by Gavriel Iddan.
There are three known companies providing capsule cameras as of June 2006. The originator, Given Imaging from Israel created the M2A Swallowable Imaging Capsule. Another company is MagnaChip and a third is Olympus medical. Cameras from all three companies transmit two images a second.
At the present time, the capsule camera is primarily used to visualize the small intestine. Whereas the upper gastrointestinal tract (esophagus, stomach, and duodenum) and the colon (large intestine) can be very adequately visualized with scopes (cameras placed at the ends of thin flexible tubes), the small intestine is very long (average 20-25 feet) and very convoluted. No available scope is able to traverse the entire length of the small intestine. The capsule camera travels through the length of the small intestine in about 4 hours, and wirelessly transmits two images every second to a receiver carried by the patient. The images are of very good quality, comparable to those from scopes. The test carries a high sensitivity and specificity for detecting lesions. The main uses today are for detecting the cause of gastrointestinal bleeding, and for inflammatory bowel disease, such as Crohn's disease.
Indications for Video Capsule Endoscopy
Use of VCE is now approved for the diagnosis of several GI conditions as well as for imaging of problems associated with the esophagus, when no contraindications exist. Indications include:
1. Detection of the source of obscure (microscopic) GI bleeding after conventional work-up such as endoscopy and small bowel series has been completed and has not revealed a source.
2. Assessment of the extent of Crohn's disease in the small bowel.
3. Evaluation of chronic diarrhea, as well as detecting small bowel tumors, assisting in the surveillance of small bowel polyps and premalignant disorders and detecting small bowel injury associated with the use of nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs.
4. Diagnosis of the esophageal mucosa, especially in relation to conditions associated with reflux problems
A new version of the capsule camera is available for visualizing the esophagus.
External reference
Artist Phillip Warnell has composited the images provided by this technique. Launch the 'Nine Metre Web Object' at *
Medical testing equipment | Diagnostic gastroenterology | endoscopy
"Capsule camera"