Electromagnetic manoeuvring: as reliable as conventional endoscopy

Siemens and Olympus, both exhibitors at MEDICA 2011, have jointly developed a further system: MGCE - magnetically guided capsule endoscopy. The magnetic capsule (length 31 mm, diameter 11 mm) can be remotely navigated through the stomach by means of a joystick. The capsule with two cameras and a permanent magnet takes four pictures per second; they are then transferred wirelessly to an image processing system and can be viewed immediately. The results of a first study were presented and verify that this method works. Of the more than 50 people who were examined, a total of 30 showed pathological changes in the stomach. Of those, 14 were discovered using the capsule as well as a conventional gastroscope, ten with the capsule only, and six with the gastroscope only. "In gastrointestinal examinations, the magnetically controlled capsule produces results that are as reliable as those obtained by conventional endoscopy. However, stomach examinations using the capsule are more comfortable," concludes Studies Director Dr. Jean-Francois Rey. Since the procedure requires practise, Siemens Healthcare has developed a so-called stomach simulator. It contains an anatomically accurate model of the stomach. Every possible capsule manoeuvre is simulated. The simulator reproduces the video image of the capsule and displays the same navigation information available to doctors doing a real examination.


According to Dr. Keller, the results of current studies but, most of all, the technical advances, are "impressive" and promise that clinical capsule endoscopy examination of the stomach will be possible in the future. For this and, presumably, for examinations of the oesophagus and the retroperitoneally (= behind the peritoneum) fixed duodenum, the simple hand-held magnet system could be a "pragmatic, effective and inexpensive solution". It appears to be less suitable for examination of intraperitoneal sections of the intestine because the one-sided magnetic field that is generated will tend to move the mobile loops of the small intestine instead of manoeuvring the capsule longitudinally through the loops of the small intestine. By comparison, a precisely controlled electromagnetic system could manoeuvre a capsule to "float" through the entire gastrointestinal tract. However, the currently available system is "still a long way from achieving these requirements," explains the gastroenterologist from Hamburg.

More HCB News