Scientists have developed a pill-sized device that can be used to study diseases of the gullet, it has been announced.
The device uses a laser beam technology to record 3D images of the lining of the organ in microscopic detail.
Developers say it is an improvement on the present endoscopy technique which gives doctors video images.
Patients swallow the device like a pill – but it is held by a tether through which images are transmitted.
The device has been used to test for Barrett’s oesophagus, a condition which can lead to cancer, and successful trials were reported yesterday in Nature Medicine.
Researchers said trials showed doctors could film the entire oesophagus in less than a minute.
Researcher Professor Gary Tearney, a pathologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, USA, said: "The images produced have been some of the best we have seen of the oesophagus.
"We originally were concerned that we might miss a lot of data because of the small size of the capsule; but we were surprised to find that, once the pill has been swallowed, it is firmly grasped by the oesophagus, allowing complete microscopic imaging of the entire wall."
He added: "This system gives us a convenient way to screen for Barrett’s that doesn’t require patient sedation, a specialised setting and equipment, or a physician who has been trained in endoscopy.
"By showing the three-dimensional, microscopic structure of the oesophageal lining, it reveals much more detail than can be seen with even high-resolution endoscopy."
The device was developed at the hospital’s Wellman Center for Photomedicine.
Nature Medicine January 13 2013
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