Capsule Endoscope Tracker

We’re seeking industrial partners and investors for licensing or co-development of a capsule endoscope (CE) tracking technology with a wearable antenna-based system to locate the CE inside the body.

This technology can:

• Reduce error and time in locating CEs and sites of interest in the body from image data.
• Locate CE position and sites of interest to within centimetres.
• Be used with any CE system currently on the market, using image data already sent by the CE to locate in the body, without the need for modifications to CEs.

Problem

The capsule endoscope (CE) has revolutionised GI tract inspection. Traditional endoscopy required a camera on the end of a cable to be inserted into the patient, with understandable anxiety prior to the procedure, additional risk during the procedure, and considerable discomfort both during and afterwards.

In contrast, CEs are pill-like miniature cameras, taken orally like any pill medication in an easy and angst-free manner. They travel through the body, imaging the GI tract with minimal discomfort.

Using these images, clinicians can make routine diagnoses of a range of diseases, including bowel cancer, Crohn’s Disease and ulcerative colitis, to name a few.

However, clinicians can only estimate the location of the CE in the body based on the photos and the time it’s taken to travel through the digestive system. With thousands of images, this is time-consuming and error-prone.

Solution

To address this problem, a CE tracking technology has been developed which combines a location software algorithm and a wearable antenna-based system.

The system uses image data already generated by CEs as location data, making it applicable to any system currently on the market without the need for additional hardware or software added to existing CEs. This means no additional regulatory requirements for CEs that are already regulatory approved.

IP Status

A patent application has been filed (PCT WO2022223600A1). Priority date is 20.04.2021.

Seeking

We’re seeking industrial partners and investors for licensing or co-development.

Contact Dr. Ben Golland at b.golland@qmul.ac.uk to discuss.

Data

A wearable system has been prototyped and the first-in-human study is planned for Q1 2024. Further data can be shared under confidentiality upon request.

Project lead

Mo Thaha, Blizard Institute, and Dr Akram Alomainy, Doctoral College