What are the Advantages of Capsule Endoscopy?

June 15, 2011 - PRLog -- Endoscope is a medical device which is inserted into an organ or cavity of the body to examine its  interiors and this medical procedure is known as endoscopy. An endoscope illuminates the interiors of a cavity or organ and captures or transmits the image to a monitoring system outside the body. Typically, endoscopes are made up of a flexible or rigid tube, light delivery system, optical fiber system, relay lens, eyepiece and an additional channel (for insertion of medical instruments). Most endoscopes can also be connected to an external monitor for viewing on big screens and also recording the captures for future analysis.

Capsule Endoscopy

Capsule endoscopy refers to endoscopy using a capsule-like endoscope. The endoscope is built to resemble a pill in the form of a capsule and is embedded with tiny LEDs to illuminate the interiors, a tiny wireless camera to record images of digestive tract of the body, radio transmitters to stream the captures to a monitoring or recording system (worn on waist of the patient) and a tiny battery to power the  evice. Capsule endoscopy typically involves the following steps:

1. The intestines of the patient are cleared of all bacterial debris and residual food using laxatives and  purges, as in colonoscopy.

2. The patient then swallows an endoscope capsule which travels through the esophagus, stomach and small intestine – imaging and transmitting the captures to the monitoring or recording system.

3. The physician reviews the captures after transferring the images to a computer system.

4. The endoscope capsule gets out of the body, usually within 24 to 36 hours, through normal excretion.

Usage & Benefits

In 2001, capsule endoscopy was approved by the United States (US) Food and Drug Administration and is used for imaging small intestines and other gastrointestinal tracts that cannot be accessed through conventional endoscopy such as esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) or colonoscopy. Capsule endoscopy is carried out to determine the sources of abdominal pain, anemia, diarrhea and bleeding in the intestines. It is helpful in diagnosing angiodysplasias, carcinoid tumors, lymphoma, small intestinal cancer, peptic ulcers and Crohn's disease. The major benefit of capsule endoscopy is comfort for the patient, who may already be suffering from pain, as there are no wires or tubes involved (as in EGD) in the procedure.

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