Everyone is used to taking pills, but what about swallowing an entire camera? I can't say I know anyone who has, but soon that may be about to change. Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital have developed a camera the size of a pill that patients can gulp down and doctors can use to scan the esophagus for cancer symptoms.
The tiny camera is connected to a narrow wire that, once inside the patient, can be moved up and down the esophagus by doctors, scanning and taking pictures of the throat the entire time. The pill is also outfitted with 3D imaging technology, which uses infrared light to produce a digital reproduction of the patient's esophagus down to the microscopic details.
The device is expected to make testing for and diagnosing esophageal cancer much easier. The disease is caused by frequent heartburn that can lead to a condition called Barret's esophagus, which can in turn lead to cancer. Already, the condition affects about 3 million Americans, many of whom have no reason to get checked because they don't necessarily feel the pain associated with heartburn.
"A lot of people have reflux but don't feel the pain of heartburn," says MGH pathologist Gary Tearney, according to Nature. "[Our device] really opens up screening to many more people."
Even if patients did have a reason to seek out a test, the procedure isn't pleasant. Doctors must anesthetize patients before inserting a long camera down the throat to look for any potential warning spots. Then a small piece of tissue must be sliced off and taken to a lab for analysis.
The new, penny-sized camera eliminates the high cost and invasive nature of a traditional endoscopy while also removing the need for tissue to be removed from the patient's body. The camera is strong enough to render much more than just the throat's surface; it can pierce through 10 microns of tissue and help doctors diagnose abnormal growth, which could lead to cancer.
"We also can potentially see other esophageal diseases," says Tearney. "Moving toward the future, we're going to be building pills that can diagnose diseases of the stomach, diseases of the small intestine and even diseases of the colon."
