Project Lead(s): Khan Wahid
Issue
In Bangladesh, 24% of people (58% of tannery workers) suffer from gastrointestinal (GI) diseases.
Capsule endoscopy (CE) – where patients swallow a capsule the size and shape of a pill containing a tiny camera – examines the small intestine, which is not accessible by flexible endoscopy or colonoscopy.
Current CE products are expensive and have other limitations, including limited battery time, and a low frame rate and size.
Solution
The project team proposed a solution to enhance the current approach to capsule endoscopy by using imaging algorithms that work on special properties of endoscopic images, and result in higher frame rate and size.
New, narrow-band light waves were used that penetrate intestinal walls deeply to bring out more features and texture, increasing diagnostic accuracy.
The ultra low-power scheme extends the battery life to 13 hours and a smartphone can be used to store transmitted images, allowing portability and convenience.
Outcome
The team successfully developed a prototype of a low-cost, portable diagnostic device to detect gastrointestinal diseases that lead to colorectal cancer.
The prototype is made of four PCB modules, each having a diameter of 16mm and total length of 36mm.
The system has smartdevice connectivity, enabling remote diagnosis and monitoring.
Two different Android apps have been developed for both data (or image) storing (named WCE Logger) and image viewing and analysis (WCE Viewer).
WCE Logger is used to record data and as a real-time viewer. A user can change image size, lighting modes and other parameters of the capsule pill in real-time. In the WCE Viewer, a user can review and examine the captured images offline.
Both the algorithm and the prototype have been validated through experiments and animal trials.
Grand Challenges Canada's award helped in leveraging funding from Western Economic Development (WED) Canada for $99,000 for two years, for lab infrastructure to support the research and development of the next generation endoscopic system.