‘Video pill’ could help battle cancer

Scientists have developed a new type of ‘video pill’ — a swallowable camera that could detect throat and gut cancers more effectively.

Tiny sensing system cameras swallowed by patients have been used in recent years rather than endoscopes as a less intrusive way of gaining images inside the throat and gut.

The cameras rely on a small light source produced by the video pill to illuminate affected areas and produce images, but researchers from the University of Glasgow have created a pill that uses fluorescence imaging to identify rich blood supplies, which support cancers and help them to grow.