SMART PILL · New optical functions for endoscopic capsules

The passive endoscopic capsule (EC) was invented a decade ago and has proven a major technological breakthrough in medical technology that has facilitated an unprecedented level of patient-friendly diagnosis of small bowel diseases. The propulsion of commercially available passive ECs is provided by the natural motility of the intestine, known as peristalsis. Moreover, the EC vision system uses only white-light and a CMOS imager that collects the images (2-4 frames per second). Before ingestion of the capsule, an antenna array is taped to the patient’s anterior abdominal wall and connected to a data recorder carried by the patient. This proposal addresses several innovations of the EC that would contribute to this goal.The first is the use of an active magnetic platform for guiding an EC inside the human body. The system will be composed by an external permanent magnet and inside of the EC is placed a small internal permanent magnet. The remote control of an EC by magnetic field allows the medical doctor to stop, to rotate the EC and to provide detailed images and early detection and diagnosis of the widespread diseases of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, in particular targeting inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) as well colo-rectal cancers (CRC) and its precursors. Work on this objective in which applicant is involved is already on-going.The second is the exploration of advanced diagnostic imaging techniques. In addition to the conventional white-light illumination, the goal is to implement: narrow band imaging (NBI) and endomicroscopy (ENM).Finally, a therapeutic function, photo-dynamic therapy (PDT), which is a technique for clinical treatment of several types of GI cancers, is to be integrated in EC.The active EC envisaged is a genuine smart pill and will operate with two domes (front and back), the front dome with white light LEDs, NBI and PDT functions and the back dome of the capsule dedicated to the ENM function.