Camera Capsule Uses MRI to Swim Like Submarine

David Rosenfeld | | Radiology Business | Magnetic Resonance Imaging
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.

David Rosenfeld

Related Content

Nearly $800,000 settlement offered to family of man who died during MRI exam
Key takeaways from RSNA 2024 for AI, CT, MRI and the radiology staffing shortage
Siemens Healthineers inks 10-year, $105M imaging value partnership with large medical center
CMS approves new MRI standards related to remote scanning
Radiologists are more accurate, confident when they know the full story
Rads are more accurate when they have access to patients' self-reported symptoms

Around the web

Health Imaging
Nearly $800,000 settlement offered to family of man who died during MRI exam

The patient, who was being cared for in the ICU, was not accompanied or monitored by nursing staff during his exam, despite being sedated.

Cardiovascular Business
Global shortage of nuclear imaging isotopes may be over

The nuclear imaging isotope shortage of molybdenum-99 may be over now that the sidelined reactor is restarting. ASNC's president says PET and new SPECT technologies helped cardiac imaging labs better weather the storm.

Cardiovascular Business
‘A huge win’: CMS significantly increases Medicare payments for cardiac CT

CMS has more than doubled the CCTA payment rate from $175 to $357.13. The move, expected to have a significant impact on the utilization of cardiac CT, received immediate praise from imaging specialists.