Pill-sized device rivals endoscopy
Physicians may soon have a new way to screen patients for Barrett’s esophagus, a precancerous condition usually caused by chronic exposure to stomach acid. Researchers at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have developed an imaging system enclosed in a capsule about the size of a multivitamin pill that creates detailed, microscopic images of the esophageal wall. The system has several advantages over traditional endoscopy. “This system gives us a convenient way to screen for Barrett’s that doesn’t require patient sedation, a specialized setting and equipment, or a physician who has been trained in endoscopy,” says Gary Tearney of the Wellman Center and the Pathology Department at MGH, a Harvard affiliate, a professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School and the corresponding author of the report receiving online publication in Nature Medicine. “By showing the three-dimensional, microscopic structure of the esophageal lining, it reveals much more detail...