TUESDAY, May 10 (HealthDay News) -- A self-propelling capsule endoscope (SPCE) allows the observation of the colon from the anus and may be an effective alternative approach for colonoscopy in the future, according to research presented at Digestive Disease Week 2011, held from May 7 to 10 in Chicago.
Takanori Kuramoto, M.D., of Osaka Medical College in Japan, and colleagues injected 500 ml of water into a patient and inserted the SPCE into the colon through the anus. The investigators used a remote control to operate the SPEC via, used a real-time monitoring system to obtain endoscopic images of the colon, and monitored the movement of the SPCE with the colonoscope.
The investigators found that the SCPE moved smoothly through the colon and was removed from the anus easily and safely and that it provided clear images. They concluded that a new retrograde colon capsule endoscopy using SPCE may be available as a colonoscopy method in the future.
"This trial demonstrates the feasibility to control and maneuver the capsule in the colon of a human who is awake," Kuramoto said in a statement. "Our study is the first trial of an actively propelled video capsule in the human colon, and we expect it will lead to the development of a commercial system to propel the capsule in a way that lets doctors visualize the entire gastrointestinal tract from esophagus to anus."
Abstract No. Su1552
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