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Wireless Reflux Chip
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About 19
million people suffer from Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, or gerd.
It's an often painful condition when acid moves up from the stomach into
the esophagus. Now, experts are studying a new technology to soon replace
uncomfortable, traditional tracking procedures.
This tiny pill cam was one of the first ways doctors used wireless
technology to diagnose esophagus disorders like reflux. A patient
swallows the disposable miniature camera and it takes hundreds of
pictures inside the body. This bravo capsule, seen on the left, is
another wireless technology currently in use.
Doctors used the capsule on 29-year-old John Grimes when he complained of
reflux symptoms. Surgeons implanted the capsule on his esophagus.
John says, "it was there for probably about two weeks, but it was
monitored for 24 hours at a monitor that's about a little larger than a
beeper or a cell phone."
Now researchers at UT Southwestern in Dallas and UT Arlington are testing
the next generation of wireless monitoring systems. It will be one of the
first to detect other causes of reflux, while using safe radiofrequency
signals.
Dr. Fred Tibbals says, "The frequencies that we're using are the
kind that are in the atmosphere all around us. They're not microwaves,
they're not even cell phone energy, they're very low frequency."
Once the system is approved for humans, doctors will pin a small,
dime-size chip to the esophagus. The chip will detect electrical impulses
that signal acidic or nonacidic liquids moving through the esophagus.
Dr. Shou Jiang Tang says, "It's a much more comfortable test and
will not change the way you routinely eat."
Exciting news for patients like john who want to treat their nagging,
reflux symptoms.
Updated: 2007-12-26 05:58:47
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Updated:
January 26, 2008, 12:00 am tory
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