| [ Summary ] |
Since an article concerning capsule endoscopy (CE) by Iddan et al was published in the journal Nature in 2000, CE has been used worldwide. In Japan, the PillCam®SB made by the Given Imaging Company, and the EndoCapsule® made by Olympus were put on the market in 2007 and 2008 respectively. They have been used for diagnostic procedures in many cases with obscure gastrointestinal bleeding (OGIB). In Japan CE is approved only for OGIB patients suspected to have bleeding from the small intestine. However, capsule endoscopies for Crohnʼs disease, or esophagus（PillCam ESO), and colon (PillCam COLON) have been approved in some foreign countries. Their approval in Japan is expected. The development of a self-sustained type capsule endoscopy for stomach observation is also expected. As described above, further improvements of CE are expected, because this modality is simple and lessinvasive. |