Colon capsule endoscopy enables clinicians to see inside the large intestine, with excellent image quality.
The colon capsule endoscopy procedure involves swallowing a tiny wireless camera (safely contained within a capsule), which then travels naturally through the stomach and intestine, finally reaching the colon where it captures thousands of pictures of the lining of the large instestine.
During the time it takes for the capsule to move through the body, it can take more than 400,000 images of the intestinal lining. The images are transmitted wirelessly to a data recorder that you wear around your waist.
The video capsule is an alternative method of investigation of the colon which is painless, does not require sedation, and can be delivered in outpatient healthcare environments.
The East of England Cancer Alliance supported four trusts in the East of England (West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust and Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in the south, and East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust and Norfolk and Waveney system in the north),to be part of a national study during 2021, for patients. The first patient in the country was successfully seen using this method at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust in February 2021.