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Olympus In Race To Launch Small Disposable Camera To Look Inside Body
Tokyo (AFP) Dec 01, 2004 The world's top endoscope maker Olympus has joined the race to develop a capsule camera, a disposable device the size of a fingertip that can be easily swallowed to scan the body from the inside. The Olympus group's medical products arm said it had developed key technologies for the capsule endoscope, which would navigate through the body without batteries to take images and directly administer drugs. Olympus Medical Systems said the capsule, which is 2.6 centimetersinches) long and 1.1 centimeters in diameter, could also extract body fluid for analysis and do ultrasound scanning from inside the body for clearer images. The capsules are powered by a rotating magnetic field and would free patients from the painful ordeal of swallowing an endoscope with fibre-optic cables. "Inside the capsule there is a deflated balloon containing drugs fitted with a small valve that can be controlled by communications from outside the body," allowing drugs to be delivered, the company said in a statement. "There is also a negatively-pressured space within the capsule for storing extracted fluid," it said. Olympus, which controls about 75 percent of the world's endoscope market, said it was to conduct clinical tests soon, with news reports saying the product was likely to be launched within two years. Another Japanese company, RF System lab, claims to be the world's first developer of a battery-free capsule endoscope. Its product, named Norika3 after sexy Japanese actress Norika Fujiwara, is also no bigger than a fingertip at 2.3 centimetres (0.9 inches) in length and nine millimeters in diameter, and capable of wireless control. RF System expects to get approval for use in China in early 2005 amid experiments at hospitals in China and Hong Kong, a company spokesman said. "We hope to launch sales in China as soon as we get the approval," the spokesman said, adding that China already allowed battery-powered capsule endoscopes made by Given Imaging of Israel. The market price for Norika3 would be about 5,000 yen (48 dollars) each. RF System also plans to file for approval with the US Food and Drug Administration next year before applying in Japan. All rights reserved. � 2004 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse. Related Links SpaceDaily Search SpaceDaily Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express
ESA at the world's largest medical exhibition
Dusseldorf, Germany (ESA) Nov 25, 2004At MEDICA 2004, the medical trade fair taking place in D�sseldorf, Germany, from 24-27 November 2004, the European Space Agency will introduce highly progressive methods in space medicine and their application on Earth. |
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