Your upperplace for Free

Self-propelled capsule endoscopy for stomach and colon exploration, created in Japan

Japanese researchers announced Tuesday that they have developed an endoscopic capsule propelled, remote controlled, which can "swim" along the digestive tract, under medical investigation.

Scientists at Ryukoku University and Osaka College of Medicine have succeeded, thanks to the tadpole-shaped capsule, to capture images from inside the stomach and colon of a patient.

This is the first time in the world when an endoscope has moved successfully in autonomous regime in the colon anus to capture a series of images, explained the Japanese researchers, who presented the invention at an international conference on digestive diseases, held in Chicago.

This small instrument, called "Siren" has a central body with a diameter of one inch and a length of 4.5 inches. The device is equipped with some kind of fins Codal which allows precise control of direction and movement.

Doctors use a lever type "joystick" to guide the movements of the capsule, watching its position on a special monitor.

The endoscope can be swallowed by the patient for examination of stomach or it can be inserted via the rectum to examine the colon.

Endoscopic capsules were invented in the 1980s and have since been widely used. Until the advent of Japanese researchers invention, they were powered by muscular contraction wave.