Endoscopes-long, thin and flexible tubes with a light and video camera on the end-allow physicians to view the inside of a patient’s body on a screen. Minimally invasive endoscopies use them to confirm a diagnosis or investigate a condition or illness. Still today, scientists and medical technicians continue to look for ways to improve the manipulation and accessibility of modern endoscopes.
A recent study performed by a group collaborating with two Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center researchers and gastroenterologists, Arifa Toor and Richard Rothstein, may have found a magnetic solution to ease the maneuvering and effectiveness of endoscopes. They tested a wireless capsule endoscope with a breakthrough design that allowed remote magnetic manipulation in a human volunteer. The test demonstrated that a wireless and magnetic method may enhance endoscopic procedures.
Endoscopies performed using wireless capsules, an option that gives a patient less discomfort, especially help when examining the small intestine. However, diagnostic accuracy may improve with the acquisition of the ability to obtain more images at a greater number of angles and distances. Therefore, the ability to maneuver the capsule with a remote has been seen as a development that can provide significant improvements in diagnostic endoscopies.
While an earlier European research project developed and tested a new maneuverable wireless capsule on animals, a later study by a research group with collaborators from Dartmouth tested the device’s true effectiveness by using it on humans. The group altered the wireless capsule endoscope to include neodymium-iron boron magnets and the capsule’s magnetic switch was substituted with a thermal one; hot water could now activate the switch inside the body. A hand-sized magnet outside of the body was used to maneuver the capsule through the esophagus as well as the stomach.
The capsule was swallowed and real-time images were observed from the capsule. The endoscope capsule was controlled and moved with incredibly flexibility around in the esophagus for 10 minutes. For example, the capsule could be turned in somersaults and be positioned at various angles at specific junctions. Within the stomach, it was fairly easy to move the capsule and hold it in any position.
This novel magnetic method does not appear to have any adverse side effects for patients, and it has not caused any noticeable discomfort. The study suggests that remote manipulation of a capsule in the esophagus and stomach of humans is not only possible, but also has the potential to bring about great improvements in diagnostic wireless capsule endoscopy.