Development of a therapeutic capsule endoscope for treatment in the gastrointestinal Tract:Bench testing to translational trial

Video capsule endoscopy (VCE) is a widely accepted clinical alternative to conventional endoscopy for diagnosis in the gut. Its advantages are that it can visualise the entire gastrointestinal tract including the small bowel (SB) and it is less invasive for the patient. However, VCE is suitable only for diagnosis, with little research into therapeutic capsule endoscopy (TCE). Like VCE, TCE has great potential to reach locations that would previously have been difficult, such as the SB. Ultrasound-mediated targeted drug delivery (UmTDD) is a promising modality for TCE: the power required is low compared with ultrasound (US) ablation and focused US can manipulate the position of therapeutic agents using radiation forces, increase uptake into and through cell layers, and thus deliver a higher dose safely to specifically targeted sites of action.