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Capsule endoscopy has improved detection of problems. Images of worms, bleeding in gastrointestinal system can be captured.
COIMBATORE: Imagine a capsule the size of your daily vitamin drug but loaded with a technology that can capture images of problems in the digestive system that cannot be detected by other investigative procedures.
Capsule endoscopy helps detect gastro-intestinal bleed and other obscure problems that may even be life threatening.
Gasteroenterologist and hepatologist V.G. Mohan Prasad, who introduced the technique here in July 2001, told mediapersons on Wednesday that it took almost 20 years of research by a team headed by an Israeli Defence Ministry engineer, Gavriel Iddan, to produce the capsule. But five years since introduction, the cost of the procedure keeps many patients in India away from it.
He said the capsule was conceived as a miniature missile with light emitting diodes (LED). The wireless capsule enabled painless endoscopic imaging of the entire gastrointestinal tract, particularly the entire small intestine.
The cost of the disposable capsule was Rs.25,000. It might ultimately lead to the discovery of a worm as the cause of the problem and that could be cured with a tablet costing only Rs.5.
Monitoring system
Yet, the worm might have remained undetected as in the case of an industrialist from Bangalore.
He had swallowed the capsule and left for Palakkad for business. Images from his gastrointestinal system were being transmitted throughout the day, irrespective of how far away he was from the centralised monitoring system to which the images were transmitted.
His problem remained undetected till he swallowed the capsule. So, it need not necessarily be a case of Rs.25,000 (total cost of the procedure) going down the drain, the doctor said.
The capsule obtained two images a second and transmitted the data through the radio frequency cord to the recording device worn around the patient's waist. An average of 50,000 images could be obtained during the eight-and-a-half hour procedure. After this, the data was downloaded to a computer and viewed by the endoscopist.
Costly procedure
The procedure could be carried out in persons with heart diseases who had either severe abdomen pain or gastrointestinal bleeding but cannot undergo routine endoscopy and colonoscopy because of their poor heart condition. It, however, cannot be used in patients with small intestinal block or those who had pace makers.
Asked why he had performed this procedure in only 125 patients over the last five years, Dr. Mohan Prasad said the cost was prohibitive.
The capsule cost Rs.15,000 and the balance Rs.10,000 was towards the cost the procedure. There was no scope so far for indigenous production of the capsule as it was patented - a reason for the high cost of endoscopy.
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