Novel way to enhance endoscopy imaging

Khan Wahid displays a recently fabricated chip (centre of the metallic device) that will be used inside their next-generation endoscopic capsule, together with sample intestinal images of a patient.

Endoscopy is a procedure by which doctors’ look inside our stomach and other parts of our gut to identify any lesion. It uses an instrument called an endoscope that has a tiny camera attached to a long, thin tube and pass it through mouth or anus to see inside the intestine.
Endoscopy is widely used to diagnose peptic ulcer, cancer, causes of bleeding from gut, explore reasons of abdominal pain like Crohn’s disese. When it comes to getting a good image to diagnose those diseases accurately, there are only few tools more useful than conventional endoscopy. One of the problems with endoscopy capsules, which measure only 11 millimetres by 26 millimetres, is they can jump areas of tissue without imaging them. So doctors do not get a continuous picture and are not also satisfied with the current image quality from endoscopy capsules.
With a view to improving the quality of image, which will lead to more consistent, accurate diagnosis, a Bangladeshi scientist Dr Khan Arif Wahid has developed a chip that will be used inside their next-generation endoscopic capsule. Dr Wahid is currently the Associate Professor of Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of University of Saskatchewan, Canada.
In order to meet the existing challenges, Wahid’s team has developed algorithms that much more efficiently capture and process images. This innovation will allow a more complete, real-time diagnosis of gastrointestinal diseases and may make it possible to add features to future endoscopy capsules.