The PillCam: Using Minuscule Technology to Treat Large Diseases

Given Imaging, an Israeli company located in Yokneam, is involved in the development, manufacturing and marketing of ground-breaking, brilliant devices for the examination of gastrointestinal diseases. Given Imaging was the first company in the world to develop capsule endoscopy technology, a medical procedure in which a capsule containing a miniature camera, the PillCam, is swallowed by the patient. The technology was FDA approved in 2001. The minuscule camera transfers high quality color images of the digestive system, allowing the physician the ability to visualize the gastrointestinal system. This procedure is non-invasive and causes no pain or inconvenience to the patient. The products are sold in over 70 countries. More than one million patients in over 5,000 medical centers worldwide have benefited from capsule endoscopy.

PillCam SB is the most commonly used, patient-friendly device for directly observing the small bowel to discern and track abnormalities in the body. By using PillCam SB, physicians can see the entire small bowel without having their patients undergo a lengthy procedure that can cause discomfort or requiring them to be sedated. The process is simple: by swallowing a vitamin-sized capsule, physicians can view ulcers, lesions, tumors, and bleeding inside the small bowel. This technology, along with the many others manufactured by Given Imaging, have the potential to really benefit the world in the realm of gastrointestinal diseases.


Below is the link to Given Imaging's website and a FAQ page about the technology:
1) http://www.givenimaging.com/en-int/Pages/default.aspx
2)http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/johns_hopkins_bayview/_docs/medical_services/gastroenterology/pill_cam_sb_faqs.pdf

The PillCam SB.
http://www.givenimaging.com/en-int/Innovative-Solutions/Capsule-Endoscopy/Pillcam-SB/PublishingImages/pillcamsbcapsule.fw.png

Israel: Creating Breakthroughs in Medical Technology

Recently, the Ministry of Health in Israel approved the marketing of an Israel-developed colonoscopy device, which consists of three cameras and wide angle photography, three times what previously existed. This will result in more than 71% precise testing and quality for early detections and diagnoses of colorectal cancer. The endoscope, called Fuse™, from the company EndoChoice, involved an international collaborative effort from both Israel and Germany.  The new colonoscopy device will be installed for the first time in the next two weeks in an Israeli hospital, Elisha, and has already sparked interest in other hospitals. The company anticipates that the device will also be implemented in other gastroenterology screening areas in the coming year.

Colon cancer is common in Israel, the second-most prevalent cancer after breast cancer. Every year 3,200 patients are diagnosed with colorectal cancer and more than 1,800 die from it. On average,  nine people are diagnosed with it everyday and five people die from the disease. This technology will prove extremely useful in detecting the cancer at an earlier stage, and will benefit both Israel and the world at large.


Below is the link to the article and a video describing the technology:

1) http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-4472073,00.html

2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y58iPsZl9as

The Fuse™  Endoscope Device.
http://www.endochoice.com/img/fuse_main_1C-1G_2013.12.jpg

Israel: Helping People Return Home

These are remarkable times for Israel, not only in the realm of adult progress, but in the spectrum of the younger generation, in this case particularly Israeli teenagers, who are developing a unique, one-of-a-kind satellite system, called Duchifat, set to launch in April that will provide a new way to approach the aging, and quickly outdating emergency alert system for hikers and travelers around the globe who cannot use phone or wi-fi connections to send distress signals.

This nano-sized satellite is only ten centimeters square, and once released into orbit will offer assistance to users of Automatic Packet Reporting System (ARPS) compatible devices who are in need of help and cannot connect with rescue services. However, what is one of the most extraordinary aspects of this project is that it is in the process of being built by a group of forty 16 and 17 year old students from Herzliya, who are participating in a special project in which dozens of minuscule satellites will be launched as a collective international effort to discover and explore the lower thermosphere, which is currently mostly unmonitored. The Israeli satellite is being developed as part of a special QB50 EU project for students.

The most important use of APRS is for sending distress signals; therefore, a hiker who is lost in a mountainous location or a desert, or an individual adrift at sea or even trapped on an unknown island, is never truly “alone” if equipped with an APRS-capable device; if they send out a signal, someone will pick it up at some point. "The Duchifat," says Meir Ariel, who directs Herzliya Science Center High School program (where the satellite is being built), will help strengthen the life-saving APRS. “Signals that reach Duchifat will be downloaded to a server at the high school, which will be monitored by students,” he said. “When a distress signal comes in the students will inform the authorities in that region of the location of the person sending the signal, and hopefully they will respond and take care of the problem.” According to Ariel, the Duchifat will circumnavigate the world approximately every hour and a half or so at varying courses. “It can pick up signals within a radius of 4,000 kilometers on earth from any point in the atmosphere, so at some point in a 24 hour period just about anybody anywhere would be within its range,” Ariel continued.

This project has the incredible potential to not only help stranded hikers and other travelers send out help signals, but to help return them home. Below is the link to the article:

http://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-high-school-kids-build-life-saving-satellite/

The Duchifat cubesat.
http://cdn.timesofisrael.com/uploads/2014/01/דוכיפת1-copy.jpg

Students working on the Duchifat cubesat.
http://cdn.timesofisrael.com/uploads/2014/01/תלמידים-בחדר-הנקי-copy-635x357.jpg