Camera pill gives doctors new view inside the human body
A controllable endoscopic capsule that can swim through the body and take photographs has been successfully tested by researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) in Boston, Massachusetts.
Inspired by science fiction, the capsule is designed to be swallowed like a pill and can be equipped with a camera. Once inside a patient's digestive track, it can be steered through the body using an MRI machine to photograph specific areas of interest.
"Our goal is to develop this capsule so that it could be used to deliver images in real time and allow clinicians to make a diagnosis during a single procedure with little discomfort or risk to the patient," said Noby Hata, a researcher in the Department of Radiology at BWH and leader of the development team. "Ideally, in the future we would be able to utilise this technology to deliver drugs or other treatments, such as laser surgery, directly to tumours or injuries within the digestive track."
Hata and his colleagues have successfully tested a prototype of the capsule in an MRI machine and proved that it can be manipulated to manoeuvre through a tank of water. They are now looking to test the device inside a human body.
