This innovative technology is intended to allow stomach examinations to be performed easily and comfortably by having the patient simply swallow an endoscope in the form of a capsule. The patient would then lie down in a magnetic guidance system. It is envisioned that the physician, via a joystick, will then be able to navigate the capsule easily to the areas of interest and that the capsule will provide real-time high-resolution images on a display in the examination room.
“In cooperation with our partner Olympus, we usher a new era in endoscopy. We believe that the magnetically guided capsule endoscope will enable quick examinations that are comfortable for the patient. This system will be an excellent addition to current methods in endoscopy, for instance within the scope of aftercare,” said Hermann Requardt, CEO of Siemens Healthcare.
“As a leading manufacturer of endoscopes, Olympus is continuously working to develop products that can be used safely and with confidence. Our aim is to create endoscopes that minimize the stress on patients and that are user-friendly for physicians. Capsule endoscopes have excellent potential from these perspectives. We see this joint development project with Siemens as the realization of one of our visions for the future of capsule endoscopes,” said Haruhito Morishima, President, Olympus Medical Systems Corporation.
Traditionally capsule endoscopes are moved only by peristaltic motion in the gastrointestinal tract. This often makes it difficult to guide the capsule to a specific location, and examinations are therefore limited to confined areas of the gastrointestinal tract, such as the small intestine. There are many medical cases that involve the gastrointestinal tract beyond the small intestine, and capsules designed for use in the small intestine can not be used for thorough examinations of the large internal cavity.
Siemens Healthcare and Olympus Medical Systems Corp. are therefore developing a technology that is intended to allow the physician to steer a capsule interactively to observe any location in the stomach.
More information about Magnetically Guided Capsule Endoscope the is available on the Siemens website.
Source: Siemens Medical