A new technology that uses a capsule camera remote control to scan the inside of the colon could one day be an alternative to colonoscopy, according to a new study suggests.
similar cameras are currently used in capsule form for problems in the small intestine, said Dr. Durado Brooks, director of colorectal cancer for the American Cancer Society (American Cancer Society). Patients swallow the capsule, which then travels through the digestive system similar to the food, recording images from inside the intestine.
But the capsules did not work equally well to look for problems in the colon, said Brooks.
Part of the reason is that the colon has many folds. During a colonoscopy, doctors move an endoscope, or flexible tube containing a light and a camera around the inside of the colon to get a full view, something the capsule camera can not do with ease.
"The colon is not a smooth tube. It is like a pipe," said Brooks . "It is a muscular tube convoluted, with many folds and crevices. The capsule camera will be able to see behind the folds and crevices inside."
addition, the colon, although its 1.4 meters (4.5 feet) is much shorter than 6.4 meters (21 feet) of the small intestine is larger in diameter than the latter body, which makes getting a 360 degree view is more difficult.
Finally the capsule cameras currently in use are slow to move through the digestive tract. To get a good view of the colon, it should be kept clear of waste materials, including feces and mucus. Even if a patient undergoes an enema, the waste material has not yet reached the colon could end up obscuring the view for the moment when the camera comes in capsule form.
Under the new study, Japanese researchers went the wrong way, so to speak.
First, they injected water into the anus and then inserted the camera in pill form. Images were obtained using a real-time monitoring to control the device with a remote control.
capsule moved smoothly through the colon and anus could be removed easily and safely, according to the study.
"This trial demonstrates the feasibility of controlling and managing the capsule in the colon of a human awake" said in a news release from the Disease Week Digestive study author, Dr. Takanori Kuramoto. "Our study is the first trial of a video camera in the form of self-propelled capsule in the human colon, and hopefully lead to the development of a commercial system to propel the capsule so as to allow doctors to visualize the entire digestive tract the esophagus to the anus. "
The findings were presented Sunday at the Digestive Disease Week in Chicago.
Brooks said the findings were a "proof of principle", which means that researchers have shown that using the cameras in capsule form to scan the colon is possible. But much more research is needed before the devices can actually be used. This includes determining which work as well as current tests such as colonoscopy.
"The next step is to determine whether or not you can provide an accurate assessment of what happens in the colon," said Brooks .
Even if you can, a capsule camera will never replace colonoscopies, said. When doctors detect abnormalities such as polyps that can become cancer during a colonoscopy, often removed immediately.
If a capsule detects polyps, the patient will undergo a colonoscopy for polyps after being treated for biopsy.
"That can not be done with a capsule," said .
Dr. Joel Brill, medical director of the Registry of Digestive Health Outcomes of the American Association of Gastroenterology (American Gastroenterological Association), said that any device that has the potential to make colorectal cancer screening is More tolerable is a positive development.
"This seems a feasibility study," Brill said . "As researchers said, the next step is to see if you can actually sell, or get out of a field of research."
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