Eric Tapley

There’s an article titled “Robot combined with swallowable camera could give docs a better look inside the small intestine” at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette online today. It discusses a new micro-robot that can be swallowed and then used to take pictures and biopsies of the small intestine.

Not only is this just cool technology, this is the kind of medical advancement that’s really going to help change the lives of people with chronic intestinal illnesses. Instead of having a sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy to check on ones intestines, this robot could be used instead, and give better results because endoscopes typically can’t see far up into the small intestine. And the uses go far beyond just helping those with Crohn’s Disease - it can also be used for individuals suffering from certain types of cancer and (hopefully) for general screening.

I’m always happy to see new technologies developed that are really intended to improve people’s lives. Kudos to Metin Sitti and his team at Carnegie Mellon University.

More Information:
“Robot combined with swallowable camera could give docs a better look inside the small intestine” at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette online.

“The ‘Bugbot,’ a Robot with Six Legs and a Camera”, a related story with more about nanobots at Roland Piquepaille’s Technology Trends blog.

Online Discussion at Slashdot about this development.