Endoscope Capsules: The Present Situation and Future Outlooks

Abstract

This paper presents new perspectives on photonic technologies for capsule endoscopy. It first presents a review of conventional endoscopy (upper endoscopy and colonoscopy), followed by capsule endoscopy (CE), as well as their techniques, advantages, and drawbacks. The technologies for CEs presented in this paper include integration with the existing endoscopic systems that are commercially available. Such technologies include narrow-band imaging (NBI), photodynamic therapy (PDT), confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE), optical coherence tomography (OCT), and spectroscopy in order to improve the performance of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract examination. In the context of NBI, two optical filters were designed and fabricated for integration into endoscopic capsules, allowing for the visualization of light centered at the 415 nm and 540 nm wavelengths. These optical filters are based on the principle of Fabry-Perot and were made of thin films of titanium dioxide (TiO2) and silicon dioxide (SiO2). Moreover, strategies and solutions for the adaptation of ECs for PDT are also discussed.