Manoeuvrable video capsule could offer alternative to endoscopies

The video capsule, subject to a study at George Washington University, uses an external magnet and hand-held video game style joysticks to move the capsule in three-dimensions in the stomach.

“A traditional endoscopy is an invasive procedure for patients, not to mention it is costly due to the need for anaesthesia and time off work,” Andrew Meltzer, a professor of Emergency Medicine at the GW School of Medicine & Health Sciences, said in a statement. “If larger studies can prove this method is sufficiently sensitive to detect high-risk lesions, magnetically controlled capsules could be used as a quick and easy way to screen for health problems in the upper GI tract such as ulcers or stomach cancer.”

Meltzer became interested in magnetically controlled capsule endoscopy after seeing patients in the emergency room with stomach pain or suspected upper GI bleeding who faced barriers to getting a traditional endoscopy as an outpatient.