CHICAGO (Reuters) - A pill-sized camera that can be swallowed and can explore parts of the small intestine that other diagnostic techniques miss allows for better detection of inflammatory bowel disorders, researchers reported recently.
Researcher Amy Hara of the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona, said tests on 52 patients using the camera--a technique called capsule endoscopy--did a far better job of detecting bowel abnormalities than did computed tomography in conjunction with ingested barium, a standard method known as CT.
In a report released at the annual scientific assembly of the Radiological Society of North America, Hara said the camera shows the most promise for diagnostics if used with CT.
"As the camera tumbles through the intestine, you don't know exactly where the mass is located. CT, by contrast, provides a very good global view of the body and specialized parameters can be employed to localize lesions," she said.
Endoscopy, in which a fiber-optic scope explores the intestines, can reach only the upper and very lower portions of the small intestine. The camera pill, by contrast, can explore its entire length, up to 25 feet.
The camera is inside a pill the size of a large vitamin capsule. Developed in Israel and approved for use in the United States last year, it is swallowed by the patient after an 8-hour fast and eliminated about 8 hours later. During its trip through the intestines it transmits a continuous stream of digital images to a small belt worn around the patient's waist.
The camera pill used in the study was developed by Given Imaging Ltd., of Yokneam, Israel.
Inflammatory bowel diseases, which include Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis, cause chronic inflammation in the intestines leading to pain, diarrhea and other problems.