FerriScan™ is a novel, non-invasive diagnostic test of the iron content of a patient's liver to assist clinicians in the detection and treatment of iron overload disorders such as thalassemia and hereditary haemochromatosis. The FerriScan™ diagnostic test service uses existing MRI (magnetic-resonance imaging) machines at radiology facilities worldwide which can be configured to provide a suitable scan of the liver that is subsequently analysed at the centralised IVB image analysis centre to quantify iron loading using proprietary software. The FerriScan™ test provides a safe alternative to liver biopsy and will become a valuable adjunct to gene testing for iron overload diseases. Liver biopsy is an unpleasant, invasive procedure requiring liver tissue to be extracted from the patient by needle.

More at FerriScan™ homepage...

FerriScan™ brochure (.pdf)...

Company describes two units of its system:

1. A multiuse workstation which provides the user interface needed to control the scanning device's motion through the colon.The work station also receives and processes the transmitted data from the digital camera attached to the device, displays it on a monitor and records the data.

2. The Aer-O-Scope is a disposable scanning device, controlled via a supply and control cable connected to the work station. The scanning device is made of two main parts:

-- A mechanical component which once placed in the rectum propels and navigates its way through the colon to the cecum with minimal interference by the workstation operator.

-- An optical component that includes front viewing as well as omni-directional lenses which enable viewing of the entire colonic mucosa. Illumination is provided by white LED's. The digital data generated by the optical system is stored in the work station.The images are then reconstructed to form of a seamless picture of the entire colonic mucosa.

Demo and info on the system at the company's website...

The words "intestinal bug" could gain a whole new meaning if a Carnegie Mellon University engineer is successful in his efforts to develop a medical robot for examining the intestinal tract.

Metin Sitti, director of the NanoRobotics Lab, is developing a set of legs that could be incorporated into the swallowable camera-in-a-pill that has become available in the past four years for diagnosing gastrointestinal disorders in the small intestine...

In the simplest scheme, the capsule could deploy three legs, creating a tripod that could stop the capsule's movement through the intestine, giving doctors a chance to take a closer look at something.

Polymer pads on the leg tips, mimicking the adhesive foot pads of the palmetto beetle, would stick to the intestinal walls. The adhesive foot pads require very little pressure, yet enable the beetle to withstand forces of more than 200 times its body weight.

A more elaborate, telescoping capsule, featuring a set of three legs on either end, would enable it to crawl as if it were inchworm. The capsule could thus go rapidly to a point of interest or, if sufficient power was available, move upstream to give doctors a second look at a suspicious lesion...

Sitti's work is still in its early stages, however. Thus far, he has devised a simple, three-footed apparatus less than two-thirds of an inch in diameter to test its stopping power in flexible plastic tubes and, in preliminary testing in South Korea, in pig intestines. A six-footed apparatus for testing the inchworm-like locomotion has been assembled and will soon be ready for testing.

Flashbacks: Capsule Endoscope by Olympus, Fastastic Voyage: Smart Pill to Expand Testing, MagnaChip Image Sensor for "Pill" Camera, Enhanced Micron CMOS image sensor for PillCam, PillCam

(hat tip: BoingBoing)

Building on several years of work studying the movements and behavior of soft-tissue animals, Chiel's team has constructed an endoscopic device made up of three muscle-like latex actuators -- mechanisms that help the robot move in its environment -- covered in nylon mesh. The device resembles a nine-inch hollow worm with a small camera inside it. Right now, it's about a half-inch wide, but the team hopes to miniaturize it down to no more than 20 millimeters in diameter.

By inflating and contracting the mechanism, using a self-managing movable seal system that the researchers had to create, the actuator segments move the robotic "worm" forward -- the same way its biological counterpart scrunches its body to propel itself. Doctors will use a joystick, initially connected by wire to the device, to control the direction in which it travels, says Chiel.

Chiel admits that worms aren't an obvious inspiration for engineering a new technique for performing a colon cancer screening. But its developers believe their device could be an advance in the field, allowing the diagnostic camera to move more easily through the long and twisted pathways of the large intestine, which would help doctors spot signs of cancer or bleeding more easily.

"This device can literally 'worm' its way into complicated places or curved tubing such as the colon," says Chiel.

(1) Technology of capsule endoscope

The capsule is 26mm long with an external diameter of 11mm. It features compact, low power-consumption imaging technology and wireless transmission technology.

(2) Capsule guidance system

This technology uses magnetism to freely control the capsule's movements. Olympus is working on development in a joint effort with the Arai/Ishiyama Laboratory, Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University. The principle behind the technology calls for the creation of a uniform magnetic field in any direction (N/S Poles) by an external magnetic field generator using three pairs of opposing electromagnets arranged in three directions X, Y and Z (vertically, laterally and depths). The capsule endoscope can then be turned in any desired direction by means of its built-in magnet. The free directional magnetic field is then used to generate a rotating magnet field which rotates the capsule, generating thrust through the spiral structure on the capsule's exterior. Since this allows free control of forward and reverse motion and motional direction, the capsule can be made to approach the part of the body to be inspected. The direction of observation can also be adjusted.

(3) Wireless power supply system

This technology provides an extracorporeal supply of the energy required for the capsule's built-in compact image pickup device and image transmission from within the capsule. Coils located outside the body use electromagnetic induction to provide electric power to the receiving coils inside the capsule. This makes it possible to secure the electric energy needed for long-term observations and the instantaneous electric power needed for high frame-rate photography.

(4) Drug delivery system

Inside the capsule there is a deflatable balloon containing drugs fitted with a small valve that can be controlled by communications from outside the body. This allows drugs to be delivered freely at any given time or place.

(5) Body fluid sampling technology

There is also a negatively-pressurized space within the capsule for storing extracted body fluids using a small valve that can be controlled by communications from outside the body. This is useful for diagnosis and analysis because it allows free collection of body fluids.

(6) Self-propelled capsule

The body of the capsule can propel itself freely within the gastrointestinal tract because it is fitted with an a mechanism that serves as a propelling mechanism and requires no external driving apparatus. Olympus is currently working on the development of several types of propelling mechanisms, including a twin-spiral type and a caterpillar-type.

(7) Ultrasound capsule

The ultrasound capsule makes it possible to conduct ultrasound scanning from inside the body because it incorporates the necessary miniaturized functions within itself. Since it radiates ultrasound from inside the body cavities, it is expected to deliver higher-resolution ultrasound images with less attenuation than those obtainable from external ultrasonography.

The Olympus press release (Nov. 2004)...

The interview with Yoram Ashery, VP business development at Given Imaging (the manufacturer of PillCam) is located here. (Money quote: "I'm only prepared to say that we have a huge portfolio of patents: 300 international patent applications, of which 24 have been approved. You can assume that they're not only for decoration.")

Related: Olympus Medical Systems to Launch Advanced Ultrasonic Omnidirectional Endoscope.

The company describes the system:

The BÂRRX Medical Halo360 system provides uniform and controlled ablative therapy at a consistent depth to remove the layer of the diseased esophageal tissue allowing replacement by normal cells. The procedure, which in clinical studies had a median procedure time of 26 minutes, is performed without incisions using conscious sedation in an out-patient setting. First, a physician uses a Halo360 sizing balloon catheter to dilate the esophagus and determine its inner diameter. A correctly sized ablation catheter is then inflated within the diseased area of the esophagus. The Halo360 energy generator is activated to deliver a rapid (less than one second) burst of ablative energy, which removes a very thin (less than one millimeter) layer of the diseased esophagus. Controlled delivery of energy avoids injury to normal, healthy underlying tissues. New healthy tissue replaces the ablated Barrett's tissue in three to four weeks for most patients, according to trial results. Minor discomfort, which may be experienced by some patients, has been managed in the trials with medication. Following ablation therapy, patients resume acid suppression therapy.

And here is the latest related research from the University of Oxford: Researchers discover genetic trigger that plays a key role in cancer of the oesophagus.

More at BÂRRX Medical (procedure videos, info)...

Enteral feeding pumps are used by patients who cannot eat normally. A feeding tube is used to access their digestive tract, usually through the abdomen. A pump is used to deliver nutritional solution directly into the digestive tract through a disposable delivery set that is loaded into the pump and connected to the feeding tube.

The new EnteraLite Infinity pump is the smallest and lightest pump available today in the U.S. Unlike any other enteral feeding pump in the market today, ZEVEX's pump can be washed under running water. Because the EnteraLite Infinity includes a 24-hour battery and weighs less than one pound, patients can be mobile and can feed at any place or time. ZEVEX's new pump carry packs provide portability to users of any size, from infants to adults.

They make it easy to get nutrition on the go. To paraphrase Homer Simpson -- here I've been all this time, slowly chewing my food like a sucker.

More at Zevex, Inc...

The SmartPill gastrointestinal mapping system is expanding to a third medical center, according to Business First of Buffalo. From the company's website:

The patient swallows the SmartPill Capsule which contains two subminiature radio transmitters. The SmartPill Capsule's transmissions are received by a small, patient worn Mobile Receiver/Controller. Site-specific data is captured in real-time as the capsule passes through the GI tract. The SmartPill Capsule is not absorbed nor does it interact with the GI tract in any way other than its propulsion via peristalsis, eventually exiting through the colon (usually within 24 hrs).

The second generation SmartPill GI Monitoring System, featuring Ambulant Capsule Technology II (ACT II) in development, will enable real-time, site-specific tracking of the SmartPill Capsule's position within the GI tract. ACT II tracking software will discriminate multiple capsules and track them simultaneously in a patient, as they transit the bowel, by repeatedly mapping or monitoring the entire GI tract. In addition, the SmartPill ACT II System will provide Gastroenterologist and researchers with a real-time diagram of the patient's alimentary tract.

Though the SmartPill can measure pH, temperature, and pressure, it doesn't take pictures. Future versions, however, plan to incorporate drug delivery.

They say it's just a little larger than a multivitamin. But at $425 a pop, it's not immediately apparent whether the devices are re-usable.

More at Smart Pill Diagnostics...

The South Korean semiconductor manufacturer has announced an image sensor for pill-size cameras that doctors can use to obtain accurate information about a patient's digestive tract. The image sensor can take up to 50,000 photographs in an eight-hour tour of the patient's insides by taking two pictures a second, according to the company.

Mass production will begin in the second half of 2005.

[...]

The MagnaChip sensor is particularly tuned to work in low-light conditions "as required, for example, in small-bowel analysis," the company said. The chip is made using standard silicon processes, which is becoming more common in the image sensor market because it cuts costs.

More at MagnaChip Semiconductor...

(hat tip: Engadget)

Drawing on an understanding of how slugs, leeches and earthworms traverse their environments and grasp objects, a team of Case Western Reserve University biologists and engineers has developed two flexible robotic devices that could make invasive medical procedures such as colonoscopies safer for patients and easier for doctors to administer.

The researchers from Case's departments of biology, mechanical and aerospace engineering and electrical engineering and computer science have obtained a patent for a new endoscopic device and a provisional patent for a gripping device that may have industrial as well as medical uses.

The endoscopic device, constructed of three muscle-like actuators made of latex bladders and surrounded by nylon mesh, looks like a nine-inch long hollow worm. The actuator segments, inflating and contracting in sequence, propel the device forward, mimicking the undulating movement of slugs and worms. "This device can literally worm its way into complicated places or into curving tubing such as the colon," Chiel explained.

The current prototype can be added to existing medical endoscopes. Eventually, the device may be miniaturized and equipped with sensors that enable it to work autonomously. According to Chiel, the research team will also be working to make the device more flexible, imitating the reflex responses of slugs and worms to changes in their environment. As a result of these refinements, the new device could reduce discomfort and the risk of injury among patients undergoing invasive medical tests, and thereby increase compliance with doctors' orders to have such tests performed.

The second device, a biologically inspired "gripper," mimics the way hungry California sea slugs in Chiel's lab grasp seaweed in its many highly slippery forms. The prototype consists of a four-inch, ball-like device, surrounded by muscle-like actuators in the form of tubes or rings. One of these tubes contains a mouth that opens and closes. The ball pushes forward, opens its mouth and grasps at the object before it.