No endoscopies for me with Esophagus PillCam!

This post is a Father's Day present for my father the gastroenterologist. He would bring home pictures and then eventually videos of endoscopies that he would perform. He was one of the first doctors to use some of the newer endoscopic equipment, especially with film, cameras and then video, in the Philadelphia area. It good that he is semi-retired now because this PillCam is going to put him out of business, and may mean the end of my favorite longest word from childhood, esophagogastroduodenoscopy.

Instead of scoping the esophagus the patient swallows this PillCam, which takes pictures of the esophagus on the way down. The pictures then allow the doctor to diagnosis any diseases of the esophagus. It takes 14 pictures/second. It's too bad that it stops once it reaches the stomach, wouldn't you want to see the whole trip? Perhaps it isn't oriented properly once it leaves the esophagus, or maybe it gets covered by food in the intestines.

Normal

Esophagitis

Suspected Barrett'sVarices

The product information is available. Perhaps my father can explain what all these diseases are.

(via Neatorama)