'Spider pill' bowel scanner will be ready within a year

[edesignuk]

Endoscopy, or the examination of a person's bowels via a tube-mounted camera, is not exactly the most pleasant medical procedure one could undergo. In 2004, we noted the early stages of a project to alleviate the (literal) pain of the procedure with a spider pill, which -- once swallowed by the hopefully willing patient -- can be remotely controlled and positioned inside the human body. Yes, it's a tiny, wirelessly communicating robot with a camera for a head crawling inside you. Hit the read link for the full BBC report, it really is worth seeing, and start your Innerspace jokes ... now!

Engadget [BBC video]

wow. Impressive...if a little creepy.

 

[yg17]

So does this mean no more anal probing for a colonoscopy?

 

[Abstract]

Wirelessly posted (Nokia 5800 Tube XpressMusic : Mozilla/5.0 (SymbianOS/9.4; U; Series60/5.0 Nokia5800d-1/21.0.101; Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 ) AppleWebKit/413 (KHTML, like Gecko) Safari/413)

*puts away the latex gloves for a second*

Uh...where's the fun in this?

 

[Metatron]

Yeah, but who the hell could swallow that thing?

I would choke trying.

 

[oblomow]

*puts away the latex gloves for a second*

Uh...where's the fun in this?

keep the gloves, someone has to catch the spider when it leaves the body the 'natural' way.

 

[arkitect]

Yeah, but who the hell could swallow that thing?

Have you ever undergone an endoscopy?

Believe me, I'd swallow that pill-sized camera anytime before going through that again…

 

[whooleytoo]

Hope that photo isn't "actual size"!

I'm in a high-risk group for bowel cancer (sister was diagnosed with it a few years back, but responded really well to treatment); and should have regular colonscopic screenings but am far too much of a chicken.

This device actually looks a lot more ..err.. palatable. Hope it hits the mainstream soon.

 

[yg17]

Yeah, but who the hell could swallow that thing?

I would choke trying.

I'd rather die with dignity by choking on that thing than die from internal bleeding with a roto rooter hanging out of my ass

 

[Rt&Dzine]

Have you ever undergone an endoscopy?

Believe me, I'd swallow that pill-sized camera anytime before going through that again…

Is an endoscopy different from a colonoscopy? A colonoscopy isn't painful.

 

[themoonisdown09]

I'd rather die with dignity by choking on that thing than die from internal bleeding with a roto rooter hanging out of my ass

Why use a roto rooter when you can use gerbils to clean out your intestines? At least that's what I've always used gerbils for.

 

[arkitect]

Is an endoscopy different from a colonoscopy? A colonoscopy isn't painful.

Oh, I didn't say it was painful…

 

[Rt&Dzine]

Oh, I didn't say it was painful…

It wasn't a big deal for me.

 

[whooleytoo]

Is an endoscopy different from a colonoscopy? A colonoscopy isn't painful.

Perhaps not always, but I have heard it can be very, very painful.

 

[Hmac]

Hope that photo isn't "actual size"!

I'm in a high-risk group for bowel cancer (sister was diagnosed with it a few years back, but responded really well to treatment); and should have regular colonscopic screenings but am far too much of a chicken.

This device actually looks a lot more ..err.. palatable. Hope it hits the mainstream soon.

Experience with virtual colonoscopy (via CT scanner) as well as PillCam has shown that even if this technology becomes available in the US, insurance companies are unlikely to pay for it. The main source of their concern is that it's technology that is not better than conventional colonoscopy, and even if the camera identifies a polyp, tumor, or inflammation, it can't take a biopsy and that patient will need a colonoscopy anyway.

Somewhere between 30% and 50% of patients undergoing colonscopy have polyps. That means that 30% - 50% of patients getting that little camera doodad are going to need both procedures.

I'm pretty confident that this thing won't ever fly and will never achieve broad-based use.

 

[bc008]

at least by the looks of it, it seems that the arms fold down into the side when you swallow it.

After seeing how much pain my cousin went through with various stomach scopes etc, this thing looks very appealing.