Colonoscopies to be replaced by camera that comes in a PILL

[MechAg94]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2551377/Colonoscopies-replaced-camera-comes-PILL-FDA-green-lights-revolutionary-treatment.html

I figured this might end up going toward politics due to the overly invasive Search Warrant discussed a while back.  Now, no invasive procedure is needed.  They just need to make you swallow a camera and they can get pictures of you insides over 8 hours.  Of course, with that issue, I am not sure this is all that much different than just waiting for some time and things to pass. 

Politics aside, it is pretty neat technology. 

[Ben]

Sure, NOW they come up with a pill.

It will be a heck of a lot more convenient for quick checks, but one of the good things about the more invasive technique is that if they see any polyps or other minor growths, they can take care of them during the same procedure. When I had mine, they grabbed a couple of polyps while they were poking around.

It would be nice if the pill stayed on the medical side, just like the "car turner off tech" in the other thread would be best served  if available only through permission the car's owner. I hate seeing beneficial tech abused in the name of "safety" and "law and order".

[RevDisk]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2551377/Colonoscopies-replaced-camera-comes-PILL-FDA-green-lights-revolutionary-treatment.html

I figured this might end up going toward politics due to the overly invasive Search Warrant discussed a while back.  Now, no invasive procedure is needed.  They just need to make you swallow a camera and they can get pictures of you insides over 8 hours.  Of course, with that issue, I am not sure this is all that much different than just waiting for some time and things to pass. 

Politics aside, it is pretty neat technology. 

Good for medical technology. Takes a surgery level situation down to pill level. Even better is when they can rig it up with a wireless antenna. Take pill, wear data logger on your belt or kept in pocket, and turn in data logger after the pill's worked its travel.

As for police, there's already no need for it. They can get a warrant and put you in a dry cell. There is absolutely no need or justification for medical procedures.

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

Umm...  Do they reuse the cameras?

Not too sure I want to swallow a pill that's already been there and done that.

[RevDisk]

Umm...  Do they reuse the cameras?

Not too sure I want to swallow a pill that's already been there and done that.

Package, no. Payload, probably could be. That's likely going to be the first question everyone asks. I wouldn't be surprised if they make them one-off disposables at easily five to ten times the cost of a reusable payload system, because people would freak out.

[Boomhauer]

Hasn't this system been around for a couple of years? Swallow the pill and it takes a bunch of pics of your insides and sends them to storage unit you wear, then you turn the unit into the doc after you finish? Seem to recall that that capsule was disposable, so you didn't try to retrieve it.

[TommyGunn]

Hasn't this system been around for a couple of years? Swallow the pill and it takes a bunch of pics of your insides and sends them to storage unit you wear, then you turn the unit into the doc after you finish? Seem to recall that that capsule was disposable, so you didn't try to retrieve it.

What if it uh.... gets stuck en route?   

[RevDisk]

What if it uh.... gets stuck en route?   

Well, that would give you pretty good information on something being wrong, so... Bonus?

[TommyGunn]

Well, that would give you pretty good information on something being wrong, so... Bonus?

Not necessarily .... might get stuck in one of those twists & turns the intestines make.
If the intestines were entirely blocked I suspect that the patient would know something was wrong before ...and I wonder if surgeons suspecting a blockage would try to diagnose the problem by using something likely to be blocked .....   however, I am not a doctor and did not play one on TV, so I can't really say.....

[MillCreek]

Hasn't this system been around for a couple of years? Swallow the pill and it takes a bunch of pics of your insides and sends them to storage unit you wear, then you turn the unit into the doc after you finish? Seem to recall that that capsule was disposable, so you didn't try to retrieve it.

They have been around for a few years.  We have had patients who have carefully fished them out of the toilet and brought them back to us.  We then modified our patient instructions to let them know that the capsule should be flushed away and we did not want it back.   I point out that you still have to do the same sort of prep for these camera capsules as you would for an actual colonoscopy.

[TommyGunn]

They have been around for a few years.  We have had patients who have carefully fished them out of the toilet and brought them back to us.  We then modified our patient instructions to let them know that the capsule should be flushed away and we did not want it back.   I point out that you still have to do the same sort of prep for these camera capsules as you would for an actual colonoscopy.

Oh, YUCK.

[makattak]

They have been around for a few years.  We have had patients who have carefully fished them out of the toilet and brought them back to us.  We then modified our patient instructions to let them know that the capsule should be flushed away and we did not want it back.   I point out that you still have to do the same sort of prep for these camera capsules as you would for an actual colonoscopy.

In that case, this calls for Dave Barry's Colonoscopy!

http://www.miamiherald.com/2009/02/11/427603/dave-barry-a-journey-into-my-colon.html

[lee n. field]

 I point out that you still have to do the same sort of prep for these camera capsules as you would for an actual colonoscopy.

that was my first question.

[MillCreek]

that was my first question.

Unless the colon is empty, pink and glistening from a good prep, the camera pill cannot take good shots.  We can encounter the same thing from a colonoscopy: you can tell if the patient complied with the prep instructions or not.  If the colon is literally full of crap, you abandon the procedure and reschedule it for another day after the patient has really done the prep.

[lee n. field]

When there was nothing coming out but the foul Koolaid, I figured I was done and stopped trying to force it down. 

[Marnoot]

I've had a similar, albeit lower-tech, device used on me before. To ascertain whether I had acid-reflux they put a scope down my throat, "pinned" a small pill-sized wireless sensor to my esophagus which measured and transmitted acid readings to a receiver I wore on my belt for two days. Sometime in the next few days the sensor fell off and went on its merry way.

[Waitone]

Old news.  I had the test in 2004 IIRC.  A butt light only goes up so high and a gut light only goes so far down.  Docs thought I was having problems in the dark zone.   Pre-game preparation was thorough as you might imagine.  Six sensors were placed on my torso.  The camera-light combo, about the size of a Nyquil capsule, was registered to the sensors.  Sensor lead (nice and black) were pulled to one side and inserted into the main box placed on my belt.  A similarly black lead went to the power supply on the other side.  Techs told me to eat and drink nothing and come back in 8 hours.  I was specifically told to stay away from police stations and banks. 

Eight hours later the whole mess was removed.  Techs told me the camera took 2 photos every second.  Special software was used to view the results.  Later at the doc's office he showed me pictures made by both technologies.  The difference was like comparing CRT television to HD LCD screens.  At the time the biggest limitation of the technology was that the pill tumbled and was not controllable.  He said the company's wizards were working to be able to steer the pill.  Great technology to have. 

I can see how both docs and hospitals would be skeptical of the technology because it takes an outpatient procedure and put it into the docs office.  Whether or not it happens depends on regulators.

[Sergeant Bob]

The worst part of a colonoscopy (I've had three) is the prep. The drugs they give you  "almost" make it worth it!

[Pharmacology]

Not necessarily .... might get stuck in one of those twists & turns the intestines make.
If the intestines were entirely blocked I suspect that the patient would know something was wrong before ...and I wonder if surgeons suspecting a blockage would try to diagnose the problem by using something likely to be blocked .....   however, I am not a doctor and did not play one on TV, so I can't really say.....

There are plenty of tablets that do not dissolve, and leave a "ghost" tablet in the poop

[HankB]

The worst part of a colonoscopy (I've had three) is the prep. The drugs they give you  "almost" make it worth it!

Amen to that - had my first one last year. The prep stuff was "flavored" to be lemony, but the "flavor" did little to cover up the oily, slimy repulsiveness of the prep solution - chilling it and pounding it down fast was the only way to keep from gagging.

The results weren't much fun, either.

The drugs they gave me during the procedure were eerie - it was like a movie edit; first I was wide awake before the procedure, then there was an abrupt shift and I was wide awake after the procedure; I didn't perceive any transition at all. (Someone said it may have been the infamous Michael Jackson drug . . . but at least I woke up.)

The gastro guy said I was fine and to come back and see him in 10 years so we could do it again . . .

[TommyGunn]

... The drugs they gave me during the procedure were eerie - it was like a movie edit; first I was wide awake before the procedure, then there was an abrupt shift and I was wide awake after the procedure; I didn't perceive any transition at all. (Someone said it may have been the infamous Michael Jackson drug . . . but at least I woke up.)
....

That was my experience too.  I know the drug was the same Michael Jackson used as they told me it was; I just don't remember the name of it offhand.  Would NEVER want to use that drug just to get to sleep though......

[MillCreek]

^^^Propofol, the drug mentioned above, is a milky white suspension.  For that reason, in healthcare we often call it 'milk of amnesia'.

[lee n. field]

Amen to that - had my first one last year. The prep stuff was "flavored" to be lemony, but the "flavor" did little to cover up the oily, slimy repulsiveness of the prep solution - chilling it and pounding it down fast was the only way to keep from gagging.

Oh, yes.

The results weren't much fun, either.

You live in the john for a couple hours.

The drugs they gave me during the procedure were eerie - it was like a movie edit; first I was wide awake before the procedure, then there was an abrupt shift and I was wide awake after the procedure; I didn't perceive any transition at all.

My recollection as well.  I was awake, and remember someone saying they didn't find anything.  Went home, emailed someone a short and barely articulate email, then crashed.

[Ben]

Wimps. No drugs for mine (besides the cleansing drugs). Nobody is sticking anything up my ass without me making sure there's no funny business going on. No "Seinfeld at the dentist" moments for me!

Actually my ride flaked the morning of my colonoscopy, and I had a choice of trying to find another one at the last minute, staying in the clinic all day because they wouldn't release me until all the drugs were out of my body, or go sans drugs. Since the nurse prepping me said she did hers without drugs, I had to man up. :)

It actually wasn't that bad. There's a little pressure when they push around the bends that kind of makes you clench your fists, but otherwise mostly uncomfortable more than painful. The nurse assisting was into flyfishing, so we mostly talked about that the whole time, which diverted my mind from the reaming. :)

[Tallpine]

The nurse assisting was into flyfishing...

For Brown Trout ?