Asimov wrote a book about it, Spielberg made a movie about it, now it's happening in reality
28.5.2000
Science fiction writer Isaac Asimov predicted it over thirty years ago, Steven Spielberg gave it celluloid life. And now, what until now was considered a futuristic fantasy, has become a contemporary reality with the help of Israeli scientists. They developed a capsule in which a tiny television camera was implanted that "travels" inside the human body, to its various destinations, guided and controlled remotely, with the aim of providing doctors and researchers with detailed images in real time, the likes of which have never been seen, of what is happening "in front of us".
The swallowed camera capsule is slightly larger than a regular antibiotic pill, 30 mm long, 11 mm wide, and is actually a far-reaching development of technologies built at the time for the needs of NASA's space flights. The space agency intended to use the camera capsule idea to measure the internal body temperatures of the astronauts during their time in space. The capsule was successfully tested on ten people, healthy volunteers, at the "Royal London" hospital in the Whitechapel district. The volunteers were asked to fast before swallowing the capsule and then could lead a normal daily life.
The head of the English research team, Prof. Paul Swain, a gastroenterologist (a specialist in diseases of the digestive tract), said that the swallowed camera, which is able to move inside the intestines and stomach of the person, i.e. in a path that is more than 10 meters long, will in the future replace the use of invasive endoscopic diagnostic equipment, which is now available Widely used. The current equipment includes flexible tubes and requires the insertion of an optical fiber and a tiny camera at the end, into the body, in a quasi-surgical procedure that includes partial anesthesia and is usually done through the throat or anus. It's not always pleasant.
The camera in the capsule M2A is the scientific name given to it saves the unpleasant process. It is swallowed very naturally like any other capsule and from the moment it enters the body, it begins to transmit images, to external television monitors, of what is happening in the stomach and intestines, along which it moves. After a day, it is expelled from the body in a natural length, through the anus. In addition to the camera, the capsule also includes a cororator, microscopic batteries and a transmitter. At this stage, the quality of the images obtained in the experiment were low compared to those provided by the endoscopic equipment, yet the experts claim that they are exciting. The current capsule allowed doctors to look into places in the human digestive system, such as the small intestine, from angles that had never been seen before and also during their natural activity (and without surgery). Swallowing the capsule was not accompanied by pain. Even its movement inside the body and the transmission of the images to the external monitors did not cause pain to the participants in the experiment. Within a day, as mentioned, the capsule finished its journey and was expelled from the body. In the future, said Dr. Swain, it will be possible to finish the journey inside my body in six hours and even cause the capsule to simply wear out. Moreover: the intention is to achieve a more significant miniaturization of the capsule and even "impose" on it the tasks of detecting pathological conditions in their cells, malignant tumors in the small intestine, identifying ulcers, lymphomas or pathological conditions of the inner lining of the digestive tract.* * *
On the Israeli side of the development are Dr. Gabriel Idan, who has three degrees in mechanical engineering, has 25 years of experience in electro-optical research, is a researcher and lecturer in the Faculty of Aeronautical Engineering at the Technion, and Dr. Gabriel Maron, president and CEO of the "Diversity Imaging" company from Park Hi-tech in Kneam. Dr. Idan revealed the idea and his patent for the first time, back last year. He talked about cameras the size of pills that would play the role of the "Lilliputs and shrinking submarines" demonstrated by Hollywood. "Traditional methods of endoscopy are much more expensive, certainly inconvenient and have limited capabilities compared to the use of the camera capsule," Idan said in an interview he gave in the spring of last year, to the magazine The interior of the Technion. He emphasized another great advantage of the capsule: its use does not require hospitalization. The subject will swallow it, for example in the morning and will be able to go to normal work. The images that the camera transmits from the body will be recorded on a small device hanging on a belt that will be carried on the body. The tape from the device will be taken to the laboratory and later decoded on the monitors for the doctor's eyes. Yes, you can control the shooting and recording speed just like on a home video device. Another great advantage that Idan found for his patent: the camera's ability to enter the small intestine, "until now it was an 'unknown country' for medicine", as he said. The camera provides the doctor with precise information about the location where the photographs were taken along the journey of the capsule. In the future there is an intention to add capabilities to the capsule that are currently only within the imagination. For example: in addition to photography, the capsule can also take biopsy samples from suspicious internal tissues, or collect samples of chemical substances found inside the body, metabolites whose presence indicates a hidden disease for detailed laboratory tests. Or she can remove a polyp and even an internal malignant tumor, while moving. "We are working on it now," said Dr. Idan at the time and refused to elaborate. The "Diversity Imaging" company is only two years old and was established by Rafael's research and development unit. Its scientists have already registered more than 20 patents for their developments. The company has created business partnerships with various parties in the US, Europe and Asia. Last year it also established an operation headquarters in the high-tech park Oakbrook, in Narcruz, near Atlanta, Georgia. Idan estimated last year that the "child of his care" the camera capsule would reach the market in two years. A competing research team in Scotland estimated in February this year that such an idea would take another 3 years to mature. Idan's capsule came forward to do this. Now there is talk that it will be commercial in less than a year. The future is on its way here.
By: Alex Doron
