Download FDA approves swallowable camera-in-a

FDA approves swallowable camera-in-a-pill to diagnose bowel
problems
LAURAN NEERGAARD, AP Medical Writer. Associated Press. New York: Aug 1, 2001. pg. 1
Abstract (Document Summary)
A doctor gives the prescription-only video pill to the patient, who then goes about his day _
walking is encouraged to help the pill move through the system.
The pill won't replace colonoscopies, the exams that check for colon cancer, because the battery
doesn't last long enough to get to the large intestine. Nor can it be used for anyone known or
suspected to have intestinal obstructions, including problems called fistulas or strictures _
because the pill might get stuck.
The FDA allowed such small studies of the video pill because it similar to today's endoscopic
cameras, just in pill form instead of mounted on a tube.
Full Text (454 words)
Copyright Associated Press Aug 1, 2001
WASHINGTON (AP) _ Medicine has caught up to Hollywood: The government approved a tiny
camera-in-a-capsule Wednesday that patients can swallow to give doctors a close-up view of
their small intestine.
The camera painlessly winds its way through the digestive tract, using wireless technology to
beam back color pictures of the gut.
The video pill is made by Israel-based Given Imaging Ltd. and called the M2A Swallowable
Imaging Capsule. It's reminiscent of the sci-fi classic "Fantastic Voyage," where a microscopic
medical submarine is injected into the body.
The video pill won't completely replace standard intestinal exams, somewhat uncomfortable
procedures where tubes fitted with tiny cameras on the end are inserted down the throat to look
at the small intestine.
But those tubes often can't reach all the way through the 20- foot small bowel, meaning patients
left without a diagnosis sometimes have to resort to exploratory surgery.
The video pill offers those people a pain-free alternative _ and may show doctors some spots
they've never been able to see because endoscopes couldn't fit into all the nooks and crannies.
Don't worry _ the camera is, well, disposable. It is excreted eight to 72 hours after being
swallowed. Before then, it has beamed its pictures to an external receiver the patient wears on a
waistband.
A doctor gives the prescription-only video pill to the patient, who then goes about his day _
walking is encouraged to help the pill move through the system.
A day or so later, the doctor simply downloads the images from the receiver into a computer to
see if the pictures allow for a diagnosis.
The pill won't replace colonoscopies, the exams that check for colon cancer, because the battery
doesn't last long enough to get to the large intestine. Nor can it be used for anyone known or
suspected to have intestinal obstructions, including problems called fistulas or strictures _
because the pill might get stuck.
But hundreds of people with anemia from microscopic stool bleeding might be candidates for the
pill when a standard endoscopic exam can't diagnose the problem.
A study of 57 healthy people found the video pill can safely pass through the digestive tract. In a
study of 20 patients, it was found to be 60 percent effective in uncovering an intestinal
abnormality compared with just 35 percent of abnormalities diagnosed using a traditional
endoscope.
The FDA allowed such small studies of the video pill because it similar to today's endoscopic
cameras, just in pill form instead of mounted on a tube.
A U.S. spokesman for Given Imaging said the capsules will be available within 90 days. Doctors
who wish to use the video pill will have to buy a $20,000 computer workstation; each capsule is
$450.