What is capsule endoscopy?
The capsule endoscopy is about the size of a jelly bean, and contains a miniature video camera, light source, transmitter and battery.
After the capsule is swallowed it passes naturally through the body taking two pictures every second while transmitting images to a data recorder about the size of a prtable CD player worn on a belt. Once swallowed patients are free to leave the hospital and can carry out their normal activities.
Approximately eight hours after ingesting the capsule, patients return the data recorder to the hospital so that the images can be downloaded to a workstation and read by a doctor.
The capsule endoscope is disposable and will be excreted naturally in the bowel movement. It allows doctors to examine the 21-foot-long small bowel, which cannot be reached by traditional upper endoscopy or by colonoscopy, with great accuracy and is superior to currently available imaging tests.
Capsule endoscopy assists in diagnosing gastrointestinal conditions such as anaemia due to obscure bleeding, chronic abdominal pain, and chronic diarrhoea.
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