- Diagnostic Imaging: A type of medical imaging that is used to find information on a disease in one's body; they are used to diagnose a disease.
- Endoscopic Capsule: A capsule used in order to take a picture of one's digestive tract.
As the field of medicine expands rapidly, there has been an ever-growing aspiration in medical scientists to try to create robots that could possibly administer surgeries in hard to reach areas of the body, give medicines, and diagnose a disease. The first of these "super pills" came out in 1999 from an Israeli company, called Given Imaging, in order to obtain diagnostic imaging of the gastrointestinal tract; this is called an endoscopic capsule and is a commonly used item in medicine today. However, these pills were not very efficient in that they tend to miss problem areas in the body; scientists would like to take a step forward from this technology and create capsules that can be controlled and used more effectively. In order to do this, they must either move through using propellers, magnets, or a hybrid of both. A group at the Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna in Pisa, Italy was able to create a hybrid prototype of this capsule and successfully tested it on a pig, which has a similar intestine as a human. The capsule was controlled by magnets till the intestine, then, the scientists used the propellers on it to control it to the desired location. However, this prototype could not do very much other than take pictures. Moving forward, scientists plan to make the patients take 10-15 pills, which would connect magnetically in the stomach and be able to administer surgical procedures and diagnose diseases; after being used, the magnets would break apart and exit through the digestive tract. Discussion:
This article is extremely important in that it can help prevent many deaths and diagnose diseases in early stages. I chose this article mainly because it presents a way in which cancer, the very disease that took the life of my great-grandfather, can be fought off more effectively. Doctors using this capsule will have a much better idea of what they are dealing with, and be able to help their patients much more effectively. In addition, doctors will now be able to administer surgeries in areas of the body that are extremely hard to reach. Through the use of endoscopic capsules, scientists will probably be able to understand the body better, thus leading to more breakthroughs in the field of medicine.
Questions:
When will these pills be available?
When the pills combine magnetically, how will they be able to fit in small, tight areas?
How will they be able to supply power for the huge capsule?
Resources:
1) Poalo, Dario, and Arianna Menciassi. "Robot Pills ." Scientific American Aug.
2010: 62-65. Science Reference Center. Web. 14 Oct. 2010.
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2) Picture 1: http://www.thelondonclinic.co.uk/images/holding_capsule%20-%20white_v_Variation_2.jpg
