Recent news coverage has heralded the arrival of a new “camera you can swallow” that “could help detect early stages of cancer of the oesophagus”.
The high-tech device, about the size of a large vitamin pill, uses optical lasers to photograph the insides of the stomach and oesophagus in detail. It is hoped that this new investigative technique may help spot early signs of cancers of the digestive system, such as oesophageal cancer (also known as cancer of the gullet). The researchers suggest the cancer camera is a quick, simple and pain free imaging method that patients may prefer to endoscopy – the current method of investigating the lining of the digestive system – where a thin tube with a camera and a light source at the end is passed down into the oesophagus.
Endoscopies have a number of practical disadvantages, including:
- they are often performed under sedation, so they can be time-consuming
- they require specially-trained staff, so they can be expensive to carry out (specialist staff usually want specialist pay rates)
Because of these disadvantages, diagnosing oesophageal cancers can place a strain on resources.
However, if this new technology is proved to be quick, safe and effective (and that is a very big ‘if’) then the diagnosis process may become a lot easier.
Another advantage is that the camera can provide more detailed images than current investigative methods such as endoscopy.
New technologies are an integral part of medical advances. However, it appears the camera was only tested in a very small number of patients with a specific disease, so it will need to be far more thoroughly tested for safety and effectiveness before it can potentially be adopted in the UK.
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