Pill-sized camera could replace uncomfortable colonoscopy experience

When most of us hear “colonoscopy,” more often than not it causes an involuntary gulp of trepidation, but thanks to the work of Israeli medical solutions company Given Imaging, that gulp will soon be all you need to do to get your insides checked out.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the company’s PillCam COLON, a pill-sized camera that records images of a patient’s insides as it makes its way through the intestinal track. 

It takes about 8 hours for the camera to make its way through, but during this time, it is wirelessly transmitting images to a device worn on the patient’s wrist. At the follow-up appointment, the doctor downloads this data and can view the images on a computer screen to search for precancerous masses.

Unfortunately, the FDA did not approve the $500 PillCam COLON as a direct substitute for the $4,000 standard colonoscopy (yet), which, for those unfamiliar with the procedure, sees a doctor probe a patient’s large intestine with a tiny camera embedded in a 4-foo- long flexible tube.

Instead, the device was approved as a means for supplementing the uncomfortable procedure when a test cannot be completed due to anatomy issues, previous surgery, or colon-related diseases.

It is expected, though, that as the technology and images provided improve, PillCam COLON will become more widely used.

Worth noting: PillCam COLON has been approved in 80 other countries, including Latin America, Europe, and Japan.

Story via the Associated Press