This outpatient
procedure involves ingesting a
small (size of a large vitamin
pill) capsule that is wireless
and contains a small video
camera that will pass naturally
through the digestive system
while taking pictures of the
intestine. The capsule is 11 mm
by 30 mm and contains a
camera, light source, radio
transmitter, and battery. The
patient swallows the capsule,
and the camera takes and
transmits two images per
second. The images are transmitted
to a recording device,
which saves all images for
review later by a health-care
provider (HCP). This device is
approximately the size of a
personal compact disk
player. The recording device is
worn on a belt around the
patient’s waist, and the
video images are transmitted to
aerials taped to the body and
stored on the device. After 8 hr,
the device is removed and
returned to the HCP for processing.
Thousands of images
are downloaded onto a computer
for viewing by an HCP
specialist. The capsule is disposable
and will be excreted
naturally in the patient’s bowel movements. In the rare case
that it is not excreted naturally,
it will need to be removed
endoscopically or surgically.
INDICATIONS
• Assist in differentiating between
benign and neoplastic tumors
• Detect gastric or duodenal ulcers
• Detect gastrointestinal tract (GI)
inflammatory disease
• Determine the presence and location
of GI bleeding and vascular
abnormalities
• Evaluate the extent of esophageal
injury after ingestion of chemicals
• Evaluate stomach or duodenum
after surgical procedures
• Evaluate suspected gastric
obstruction
• Identify Crohn’s disease, infectious
enteritis, and celiac sprue
• Identify source of chronic diarrhea
• Investigate the cause of abdominal
pain, celiac syndrome, and other
malabsorption syndromes