Beijing : A new 3D-printed tadpole-like medical device can improve diagnosis of various cancers by swimming around inside the organ of a patient and wirelessly transmitting video of what it sees, scientists say, reports PTI.
The new device called the Tadpole Endoscope (TE) takes inspiration from the mechanics that tadpoles use to swim and is like a micro-robot fish with a camera which is swallowed by the patient. The Tadpole Endoscope stands out from existing wireless capsule endoscopes with its addition of a soft tail that allows it to be guided around the stomach remotely by a doctor, allowing for more comprehensive imaging and accurate location of problems within the body.
Cancers of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, including oesophagus cancer, stomach cancer and colon cancer, rank as the second most prevalent among all types of cancers in the world. Three procedures are required for the traditional method of diagnosing cancers in the GI tract: oesophagus cancer and stomach cancer can be diagnosed using gastroscopy; intestinal cancer can be diagnosed using capsule endoscopy; and colorectal cancer can be diagnosed using colonoscopy.
All of these diagnostic procedures are expensive and put a lot of stress on the human body. Created by engineers from the Institute of Precision Engineering at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, The TE attempts to improve these existing methods by offering a reliable, non-invasive diagnosis procedure for the GI tract.
