Mini Camera May Lead to "Virtual Colonoscopy"

A miniature camera, small enough to be swallowed like a pill, has been tested on animals and human beings to search for abnormalities in their intestines, according to reports in both the New England Journal of Medicine and Gastroenterology.

Right now the camera, designed at Duke Universtiy, already seems effective for the small intestine because the narrow passageway in that area keeps the device stable, but modifications to guide the camera will be needed to use the this technique for disease detection or diagnosis of the larger colon area in the future.

Several commercial companies are now working on versions of the miniature camera, with the idea that it will be effective soon to perform a painless "virtual colonoscopy."

The results in examinations of the small intestine in human clinical studies are considered good enough to apply this year for FDA approval, say the researchers

. Sources: New England Journal of Medicine and Gastroenterology