Swallowed capsules provide an alternative to endoscopes for gastrointestinal imaging. However, capsules produce lower resolution images and so are unsuitable for many investigations.
A new tethered capsule has been developed, which retains many of the benefits of capsules while providing cross-sectional microscopic images of the gut wall at 30μm × 7 μm resolution.
The new tethered capsule can rapidly provide three-dimensional, microstructural images of the upper gastrointestinal tract in a simple and painless procedure, opening up new opportunities for screening for internal diseases.