11:30am Tuesday 9th January 2007
By Corinne McPartland
DARENT Valley Hospital is aiming to increase the use of camera pill technology after a successful five-month trial.
The pill, which takes pictures inside the bowel, has been used on more than 30 patients since August. Darent Valley was the first hospital in the south east to use the new £350-a-piece pill.
Previously it was only available at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in central London.
Darent Valley raised £50,000 to buy the Wireless Small Bowel Capsule Endoscopy (Pill-Cam) through its Cancer Fighting Fund.
The hospital in Darenth Wood Road, Dartford, won The Innovation Award at the Best of Health Awards, held in Brighton in November, for spearheading the technique. It hopes at least one patient a week will benefit from the Pill-Cam this year.
Since the capsule has been in use at the hospital, it has detected one case of bowel cancer and other conditions such as Crohn's disease and multiple small bowel polyps. It uses a tablet-sized camera which a patient swallows, allowing images to be taken of the small intestine. The pill takes pictures for at least six hours and transmits them to a data recorder worn around the patient's waist. It then passes through the bowel and is discarded, while the data is stored on a computer which medical staff view as video images. Consultant gastroenterologist Dr Philip Mairs, who has used the technology, said: "Never has such a clear image been seen of the bowel.
"It will help give a very clear and accurate diagnosis and effective treatment." Head gastroenterology nurse Penny MacFarlane says the Pill-Cam allows patients to spend less time in hospital. She said: "The procedure is truly an outpatient one and the patient can carry out their normal daily activities at home or at work.
"So far it has been a success and we hope people will start choosing to come to hospital to have it."
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