In-vivo evaluation of microultrasound and thermometric capsule endoscopes

Clinical endoscopy and colonoscopy are commonly used to investigate and diagnose disorders in the upper gastrointestinal tract and colon, respectively. However, examination of the anatomically remote small bowel with conventional endoscopy is challenging. This and advances in miniaturization led to the development of video capsule endoscopy (VCE) to allow small bowel examination in a noninvasive manner. Available since 2001, current capsule endoscopes are limited to viewing the mucosal surface only due to their reliance on optical imaging. To overcome this limitation with submucosal imaging, work is under way to implement microultrasound (μUS) imaging in the same form as VCE devices. This paper describes two prototype capsules, termed Sonocap and Thermocap, which were developed respectively to assess the quality of μUS imaging and the maximum power consumption that can be tolerated for such a system. The capsules were tested in vivo in the oesophagus and small bowel of porcine models. Results are presented in the form of μUS B-scans as well as safe temperature readings observed up to 100 mW in both biological regions. These results demonstrate that acoustic coupling and μUS imaging can be achieved in vivo in the lumen of the bowel and the maximum power consumption that is possible for miniature μUS systems.