Published 11 September 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b3420
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b3420

Clinical Review

Science, medicine, and the future

Capsule endoscopy

Andrea Moglia, researcher1, Andrea Pietrabissa, associate professor1,2, Alfred Cuschieri, professor of surgery and chief scientific advisor3,4

1 EndoCAS, Center for Computer Assisted Surgery, University of Pisa, 56124 Pisa, Italy, 2 Department of Oncology, Transplantation and New Technology in Medicine, University of Pisa, 3 Institute for Medical Science and Technology, University of Dundee, Dundee Medipark, Dundee DD2 1FD, 4 Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna di Studi Universitari, Piazza Martiri della Libertà 33, 56127, Pisa, Italy

Correspondence to: A Moglia andrea.moglia@endocas.org

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.


Capsule endoscopy requires patients to ingest a vitamin sized pill containing a camera that provides images of the gastrointestinal mucosa
Capsule endoscopy is complementary to double balloon endoscopy for detecting obscure gastrointestinal bleeding and small intestinal tumours
Oesophageal capsule endoscopy is a safe alternative to upper gastrointestinal endoscopy in the surveillance of patients with Barrett’s oesophagus, although cost may limit its use
Colonic capsule endoscopy may be useful in the detection of colorectal cancer when colonoscopy is incomplete or contraindicated
Magnetically guided capsules may be useful in cystoscopy and as the imaging platform for natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery
Technological challenges for the next generation of devices include reducing component size, improving power management, and introducing capsule locomotion


Capsule endoscopy was unveiled at Digestive Disease Week 2000 in San Diego, California, USA, by Paul Swain, gastroenterologist at Imperial College St Mary’s Hospital, London, and Given Imaging, a Yoqneam (Israel) company, . . . [Full text of this article]


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