Medtronic reported that a patient has completed the first procedure with the latest version of its ingestible camera, used to perform capsule-based endoscopy in the clinic as well as at home during a telehealth appointment.
The company received a new FDA clearance for the PillCam Genius SB this past May, though the technology has been in use since the early 2000s.
The new kit is specifically designed to take tens of thousands of pictures of the small bowel mucosa, to help adult patients monitor Crohn’s disease, iron-deficient anemia and other gastrointestinal conditions, as well as detect potentially hidden internal bleeding.
The capsule beams its images to a single-use, wearable device that adheres to the skin—instead of the previous recorder hardware and sensor belt—which can also alert the user that their procedure is complete using lights, sounds and vibrations.
The system can also offer a real-time view for a limited time, allowing clinicians to estimate the camera’s location as it passes through the gastrointestinal tract.
“Capsule endoscopy technology has advanced so that equipment management is simplified and makes capsule endoscopy more accessible and patient-centric,” said Jodie Barkin, M.D., director of pancreatic and small bowel diseases at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, who helped oversee the procedure.
“The ability to conduct procedures remotely, combined with the seamless integration of advanced imaging, streamlines workflows for healthcare providers with additional capabilities and flexibility for health systems, and enhances the patient experience,” Barkin said in a statement.