Patients Swallow Computerized Cameras in Vitamin-sized Capsules To Produce Images Detecting Gastrointestinal Disorders

Thursday, August 30, 2001

** Editor's Note: Dr. David Fleischer and a patient are available for interviews. B-roll, animation, Fact Sheet and Frequently Asked Questions are also available upon request.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - In a procedure worthy of a scene in a futuristic movie, a patient at Mayo Clinic Scottsdale swallows a plastic capsule containing a disposable, miniature camera in order to visualize his digestive system.

Eight hours later, a Walkman-sized digital recording device and a collection of electronic sensors are released from the patient's waist and torso, and a team of physicians view high-resolution color images that reveal a previously undiagnosable cause for bleeding in the patient's digestive tract.

But it's not a futuristic movie.

Mayo Clinic Scottsdale is only the third center in the United States, and the only center west of New York, to unveil Capsule Endoscopy-a procedure that was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on August 1, 2001. The other two centers are located on the East Coast.

"In addition to learning about identifying diseases we will also learn more about normal anatomy and physiology," says David Fleischer, M.D., chair, Gastroenterology, at Mayo Clinic Scottsdale. "This procedure is the medical equivalent of space exploration of the moon. We are now able to see things that have never been seen before."

Approximately the size of a large vitamin, the capsule includes a miniature color video camera, a light, a battery and transmitter. Images captured by the video camera are transmitted to a number of sensors attached to the patient's torso and recorded digitally on a recording device similar to a Walkman that is worn around the patient's waist.

The patient swallows the capsule with a drink of water, and within approximately eight hours, after the capsule has progressed through the small intestine, the recorder is removed from the patient and the information captured it is downloaded onto a computer for examination.

Although not a substitute for Gastrointestinal (GI) Endoscopy, a procedure in which long flexible black tubes with lights are inserted through the mouth, down the throat and into the upper or lower digestive tract, Capsule Endoscopy serves as an additional diagnostic tool for patients who have been suffering from GI disorders, such as bleeding, without a definitive diagnosis. It can also be used to evaluate conditions of the small bowel that cause diarrhea, pain or weigh loss, such as Crohn's Disease that involves the small bowel.

"Capsule endoscopy is a breakthrough technology because it enables physicians to look at the entire 30 feet of the small intestine, not just the four to five feet that can be visualized with other types of endoscopy," says Jonathan Leighton, M.D., chair, Endoscopy at Mayo Clinic Scottsdale. "Now that we can identify these conditions that traditional endoscopy could not visualize, we can more accurately and aggressively determine the course of treatment for our patient."

"Capsule Endoscopy is one of the most revolutionary advances in the GI field in over 50 years," adds Dr. Fleischer. "It means that patients who were previously difficult to diagnose will be better treated because we can view parts of the small intestine that were impossible to view and evaluate."

Mayo Clinic is a private group practice of medicine dedicated to providing diagnosis and treatment of patient illnesses through a systematic focus on individual patient needs. Mayo Clinic Scottsdale provides outpatient healthcare in 66 medical and surgical specialties and programs at the outpatient clinic location, practices located throughout the Valley and at Mayo Clinic Hospital. The hospital is located at 56th Street and Mayo Boulevard (north of Bell Road) in northeast Phoenix, and provides inpatient care to support the medical and surgical specialties of the Clinic.

Contact: Anne Tewksbury
Phone: 480-301-4368 e-mail

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