Pillcam

[Claire]

I wonder if it beats swallowing a tube. They say this is no small pill. Claire

PillCam Can Help Doctors Diagnose Gastrointestinal Disorders

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[VydorScope]

My GI doc talked to me about doing this not that long ago. But he told me it has a very low rate of successfully finding anything and he only does it if nothing else turns anything up. So I told him, NO THANKS. Not paying a $500 copay for that kind of return thats for sure.

[judy05]

My GI doc talked to me about doing this not that long ago. But he told me it has a very low rate of successfully finding anything and he only does it if nothing else turns anything up. So I told him, NO THANKS. Not paying a $500 copay for that kind of return thats for sure.

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Besides that it can't do a biopsy, so why have it done?

[Claire]

My GI doc talked to me about doing this not that long ago. But he told me it has a very low rate of successfully finding anything and he only does it if nothing else turns anything up. So I told him, NO THANKS. Not paying a $500 copay for that kind of return thats for sure.

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that is strange - medical reviews have been very positive. I will see what else i can find about it. My daughter said it was recommended to her friend as the most comprehensive test available.

Hopefully your doctor isn't like some around here who take at least 10 years to accept something news. Claire

[Claire]

Besides that it can't do a biopsy, so why have it done?

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Villi are visible - don't need 'scrapings' if you can determine the condition of the villi from pictures. Claire

[VydorScope]

Villi are visible - don't need 'scrapings' if you can determine the condition of the villi from pictures.  Claire

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They can take pictures with the Endoscope though, and still need biospies.

[Claire]

They can take pictures with the Endoscope though, and still need biospies.

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I did not initiate this topic to promote Pillcam. I knew that it was receiving high marks in the field but I did search out a bit more after reading here that at least one doctor was against it. I was unable to find any negative remarks - except some comments on the price which is higher than endoscopy and many insurances do not yet cover. Both the price and the insurance coverage will probably change as this procedure becomes more well known. A friend of mine was told that this procedure shows areas of the intestine way beyond where the endoscopy can go - much more sensitive - felt it provided far more info than he could get from endoscopy.

Certainly doctors and patients are entitled to their own opinions. I do think that doctors resist new modalities - sometimes for many years. There were doctors who opposed CScans and MRIs when they were first introduced - arguing that the X-ray gave them everything they ever needed to know. Whatever, the following articles are posted to further knowledge of this procedure - for whatever it is worth to readers here. Claire

PillCam Is an Easy Procedure to Swallow at Yale-New Haven Hospital

It's the size of a large vitamin capsule, but what some patients are swallowing in Yale-New Haven Hospital's gastrointestinal (GI) procedures center is far more remarkable than a standard multivitamin. This capsule is called PillCam, and it contains a tiny video camera that transmits full-color image data of the digestive tract at a rate of two frames per second to an array of sensors in a special belt worn by the patient.

While Yale-New Haven Hospital doctors are using PillCam to study the small intestine - often in cases that are difficult to diagnose - they say the technology is revolutionary, and may be used in other ways in the future.

"PillCam is very cool, it's just cool technology," said Deborah D. Proctor, MD, one of two physicians that perform the procedure at Yale-New Haven Hospital. The other is Martin Floch, MD "The procedure is totally non-invasive, no radiation is involved, there is no discomfort and no need for sedation. Once the camera and belt are in place, the patient can go about his or her normal day."

PillCam was developed by Given Imaging, an Israeli company, and doctors worldwide have used it to help diagnose more than 200,000 patients. The tiny camera is a valuable tool for diagnosing problems of the small bowel, including chronic undiagnosed intestinal bleeding, Crohn's Disease, Celiac disease, benign and malignant tumors of the small intestine, vascular disorders and medication-related small bowel injury. Other tools, such as endoscopy and X-ray, fall short in diagnosing these problems because thin, flexible endoscopic tubes don't reach far enough into the small intestine and X-rays don't provide a clear enough picture of it.

At Yale-New Haven Hospital, Drs. Floch and Proctor use PillCam to diagnose about three or four patients a week - about 125 in the past year. "Generally they tend to be older patients, although occasionally there are younger ones," said Dr. Proctor. "They might come to us after six months to a year of anemia or GI bleeding, and they've had upper endoscopies and other procedures."

PillCam looks big, but it goes down easy, although children may need anesthesia, and it is not used on patients with swallowing disorders, pacemakers or gastrointestinal obstructions. Patients are given the capsule while they are lying down, then they gradually begin to sit up as PillCam begins its journey through the esophagus. Then they go about their normal day, even eating a light lunch while PillCam does its work. The patient returns to the GI procedures center eight hours later so the physician can upload information from the special belt and view it at a hospital computer workstation as either still images or a movie. The pill is excreted naturally.

One PillCam capsule costs about $500, bringing an entire procedure using Pillcam to $1,200 compared to $700-$800 for an endoscopy, said Proctor. But she and Dr. Floch expect the price to come down as the use of PillCam becomes more widespread.

Reporters: For more information on this release, contact Mark D'Antonio, (203) 688-2493.

PillCam Can Help Doctors Diagnose Gastrointestinal Disorders

POSTED: 1:52 pm MDT September 22, 2005

UPDATED: 2:02 pm MDT September 22, 2005

DENVER -- Imagine swallowing a pill that will take millions of pictures as it travels throughout your body. It's a technology that is making diagnosing gastrointestinal disorders much easier for both the patient and doctor.

John Howell's doctors are using this newer technology in hopes they will find the source of his bleeding.

With a sip of water, Howell swallows a pill but it's no ordinary pill. It's smaller than a pen cap but inside is a camera.

"This is the first non-invasive way we have of visualizing the small intestines," said Dr. Daniel Siegel with Rose Medical Center.

After it is swallowed the PillCam transmits nearly 50,000 images to a data recorder that the patient wears during an eight hour period. The images are then downloaded onto a computer and then doctors such as Siegel can then see if anything is wrong.

"Previously, it was very difficult to diagnose small intestinal disease," said Siegel. "There are 20 feet of small intestine and unfortunately CT scans, barium studies and endoscopy don't visualize all the intestines."

The pill camera allows doctors to see all the small intestines, making it much easier to diagnose small intestine disorders, including Crohn's disease, Celiac disease, unexplained bleeding and inflammatory bowel disease.

The camera can even find the exact location of tumors, cancerous or not.

"I have been surprised and amazed at the diseases we've been able to diagnose with the pill camera endoscopy," said Siegel.

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[laurelfla]

Claire,

thank you for posting this! my doc wants to do this but it is stuck right now in insurance verification crap, etc. at least now i know more! thank you!

[VydorScope]

Soory, I should have mention that my doc siad it was because it goes deeper in then the endoscope, but I do not think its more sensitve.. just goes doen futher.. PAST where the celiac disease damage would be.

I dunno. He was not against its per say, jsut siad its the last tool he will turn to do to its low rate of finding anything. Theve been using it for couple years here at least. *I* decided agsianst it, he wants to do it. I am not paying $500 for something that takes a full day, (assuming my ins even covers it). THats a personal decsiion against what the doc said. So I would not call it a "negative" comment by a doctor, jsut to be fiar.

[Guest DanceswithWolves]

I'm sold.

I don't care how much it costs.

I think it's a great idea and would not care if it even took a week for a result. My Gastro doc charged me $140 to press on my stomach and tell me I have IBS and I should "eat whatever I want"; Still deciding if I want to go back to him or not. I might fly off the handle.

[VydorScope]

I'm sold.

I don't care how much it costs.

I think it's a great idea and would not care if it even took a week for a result. My Gastro doc charged me $140 to press on my stomach and tell me I have IBS and I should "eat whatever I want";  Still deciding if I want to go back to him or not. I might fly off the handle.

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Good luck with it, and let us know how it works out for you.

But based on this post allone...find a new doctor.

[nogluten-]

I wonder if it beats swallowing a tube. They say this is no small pill.  Claire

PillCam Can Help Doctors Diagnose Gastrointestinal Disorders

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I thought the pill was very easy. The prep part is the worst of any of the g.i. testing, I think. Once you have that done, you're set. The pill is kind of big, but easy to swallow, and the camera sits in front of you like a fanny pack. You go back at the g.i. doctor at the end of the day and they take the fanny pack/camera and someone at a lab checks every photo to find damage that is often missed with the other tests. Don't be scared of the test at all. I've said this before, but that pill cam literally saved my life, so I love it. It detected severe small intestine damage that a regular endoscopy never found. My g.i. says it's one of the top of the line diagnosing tools nowadays. Here's a link with a zoomed photo of the pill and a very good article about it.

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