Fantastic Voyage (1966) hinted at the information one can gleam from being inside the human body. Good flick -worth viewing! Today there is a sensor you swallow that measures heart and breathing rates from within the digestive tract. This type of sensor could make it easier to assess trauma patients, monitor soldiers in battle, perform long–term evaluation of patients with chronic illnesses, or improve training for professional and amateur athletes.
PillCam® from Given Imaging
Some readers, perhaps already, have had their bowels ‘viewed’ by an ingestible sensor. A ‘Capsule Endoscopy‘ as it is called, looks at areas in the small intestine that other studies can not view well. Many are asked to swallow a sensor one such is the ‘PillCam®’ – the size of a standard vitamin (11 mm x 26 mm), weighing less than a US nickel and containing a battery and video camera.
A small data recorder device is strapped to the waist that receives video images (about 2/sec.) as natural passage occurs. Out it comes thru the rectum usually in 24 hours.
What will 2016 add to these biometric capsules – stay tuned!
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