Camera Capsule Uses MRI to Swim Like Submarine

Endoscopic capsule technology just got even closer to resembling the 1987 motion picture Innerspace about exploring the inner workings of the human body. Researchers at the Department of Radiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital have successfully tested an endoscopic capsule with the ability to swim through the body. An MRI machine is used to navigate the pill with a miniscule motor and a propeller similar to a submarine power. The patient simply swallows the pill, which has a tiny camera embedded within. Current endoscopic capsules cannot be controlled once inside the patient’s body. The capsule being tested at BWH has so far shown the ability to swim through a tank of water, but has not been tested on a human being yet. “There is no reason to believe the capsule would move differently in a human than it does in a tank of water,” a press release states.