Newer developments are also able to take biopsies and release medication at specific locations of the entire gastrointestinal tract.

[1] Unlike the more widely used endoscope, capsule endoscopy provides the ability to see the middle portion of the small intestine.

It can be applied to the detection of various gastrointestinal cancers, digestive diseases, ulcers, unexplained bleedings, and general abdominal pains.

This initial design suffered from high power consumption and slow transmission times of image data of at best 10 minutes.

In 1993 Iddan had the idea to split the system into three components, the camera and transmitter, the recorder attached to a sensor array on the patient's abdomen, and a software package that processes the stored data at leisure by a physician at a later time.

Due to the passive nature of image capture and lack of control in maneuvering the device through the digestive tract novel solutions are being developed by various companies and research labs.

Standard endoscopy can be more uncomfortable for a patient, can be more prone to puncturing the digestive tract walls, and is not able to access the middle portion of the small intestine.

Further innovation will be required to make capsule endoscopy comparable to the current standard of care, but extensive work is being performed to achieve this.

[9] Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD), employs a camera attached to a long flexible tube to view the upper portion of the gastrointestinal tract, namely the esophagus, the stomach, and the beginning of the first part of the small intestine called the duodenum.

A colonoscope, inserted through the rectum, can view the colon and the distal portion of the small intestine, the terminal ileum.

[11] The images collected by the miniature camera during a session are transferred wirelessly to an external receiver worn by the patient, using any one of a band of appropriate frequencies.

[14] As of 2014, research was targeting additional sensing mechanisms and localization and motion control systems to enable new applications for the technology, for example, drug delivery.

[15] Capsule endoscopy requires a number of different preparatory procedures to ensure clear images are taken of a patient's gastrointestinal tract for an accurate diagnosis of disease.

[19] Medtronic today (2024) produces one of the more widely used capsule endoscope systems called the PillCam having sold over 4 million units.