Current and future applications of the capsule camera

Scientific advances in areas such as nanotechnology and gene therapy promise to revolutionize the way we discover and develop drugs, as well as how we diagnose and treat disease. The 'camera in a pill' is one recent development that is generating considerable interest. Until recently, only the proximal ( oesophagus, stomach and duodenum) and the distal ( colon) portions of the gastrointestinal tract were easily visible using available technology. The twenty feet or so of small intestine in between these two portions was essentially unreachable. This hurdle might soon be overcome.