As seen in the background, camera pills are small pill sized and shaped devices designed to enter and take pictures of a patient’s digestive system. Camera pills are a fairly new technology created by Gavriel Iddan, founder of the camera pill company Given Imaging. Iddan successfully tested the 26 mm by 11 mm pill before it’s official release in 2000. Unlike traditional endoscopes, the camera pill is wireless, and is swallowed like a pill by the patient and left alone. Pictures taken on by the camera are sent to a pager like device one wears for the duration of the pill’s journey to collect the photos. Six LED lights help give the micro camera the ability to see inside the intestines and stomach.
Diagram of Camera Pill’s components
Camera pills not only give the doctor the ability to see inside the entirety of the digestive track, but also gives the patient no lengthy appointments. Instead, they are given a time to visit to get the pill to take. The only requirement of the camera pill is the patient must not have eaten two hours before the pill is taken, as this leaves the stomach and intestines free of food an easier to see.
Camera Pills
Although this technology has proven successful in its task, the doctors and patients must rely solely on the pill to properly pass through the patient’s digestive track, as they have no control over where it may go. Concern had been expressed that the camera may take multiple pictures of the same thing, as the pill may turn around at random at any given time in the body. This issue had been seen by many, including a team of researchers in Japan. And that is what leads us to the next page, 3. A new kind of Camera Pill,on a new camera pill designed to tackle this problem.
Endoscopy & Camera Pills 