Camera in a Capsule

Painless and easy screening of the small intestine is now possible in Raffles Hospital.

Although small intestinal diseases are uncommon, 10% of patients who often have diarrhoea, abdominal pain, obscure gastrointestinal tract blood loss with anaemia, persistent fever of unknown origin and weight loss, have small intestinal problems.

Now, a small capsule sized camera device can help the doctor to examine the small intestine for possible small intestinal diseases.

The vitamin-pill sized video capsule comes with it's own camera lens and light source. It is used as an endoscope to capture images of the entire small intestine. After the patient has ingested the video capsule, it will obtain images as it travels through the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). Images will be downloaded and viewed on a video monitor by the doctor to detect small intestinal lesions.

Capsule endoscopy is a recent medical breakthrough that enables accurate diagnosies of small intestinal diseases in a non-invasive way. The availability of this cutting edge technology hasimproved the diagnosis and management of patients with small intestinal diseases.