Check it out! A cancer-detecting pill

A health consulting firm, Inscope Global Resources, has introduced a camera capsule, said to be capable of taking 80,000 images of the gastrointestinal tract and detecting colorectal cancer to the Nigerian market.
According to the World Health Organisation, colon cancer causes 694,000 deaths annually and is one of the five most common cancer diagnosed in men and women.
The chief executive officer of the firm, Dr. Anthony Shonde, at a briefing on Wednesday in Lagos, said the PillCam Capsule Endoscopy is a diagnostic device consisting of a capsule with a camera, data recorder, sensor bet and Rapid 8 software which is ingested by a patient to investigate the gastrointestinal tract.
Shonde, who is a British-trained consultant gastroenterologist, said the capsule has been approved by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, and the Food Drug Administration in the United States and the European Union.
“The patient swallows the capsule which passes through the gastrointestinal tract, transmitting images and data wirelessly to a data recorder worn by the patient. Once the procedure has been completed, the video images are downloaded from the data recorder onto a computer with the Rapid 8 software and then reviewed by a physician,” he said.
An official of the firm, Dr. Seyi Adeeko, said the pill which is passed out by the patient between seven and nine hours is a cheaper, simpler and non-invasive technology than colonoscopy.
“If it is detected early, colorectal cancer has a 95 per cent cure rate but only five per cent cure rate when detected late. We are working with the Society of Gastroenterologist and Haematologists of Nigeria to make it accessible for Nigerians,” said Adeeko.
According to Shonde, the pill can be taken without sedation and without the risk of perforation to the bowel. He added that patients with abdominal pain, inflammatory bowel diseases, diarrhoea and bleeding can also benefit from the device.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now