A Novel Cyber Physical System for 3-D Imaging of the Small Intestine <italic>In Vivo</italic>

Abstract

Small intestine is the longest organ in the gastrointestinal tract where much of the digestion and the food absorption take place. Wireless video capsule endoscope (VCE) is the first device taking 2-D pictures from the lesions and the abnormalities in the entire length of the small intestine. Since precise localization and mapping inside the small intestine is a very challenging problem, we cannot measure the distance traveled by the VCE to associate lesions and abnormalities to locations inside the small intestine, and we cannot use the 2-D pictures to reconstruct the 3-D image of interior of the entire small intestine in vivo. This paper presents the architectural concept of a novel cyber physical system (CPS), which can utilize the 2-D pictures of the small intestine taken by the VCE to reconstruct the 3-D image of the small intestine in vivo. Hybrid localization and mapping techniques with millimetric accuracy for inside the small intestine is presented as an enabling technology to facilitate the reconstruction of 3-D images from the 2-D pictures. The proposed CPS architecture provides for large-scale virtual experimentations inside the human body without intruding the body with a sizable equipment using reasonable clinical experiments for validation. The 3-D imaging of the small intestine in vivo allows a lesion to be pinpointed for follow-up diagnosis and/or treatment and the abnormalities may be observed from different angles in 3-D images for more thorough examination.

Transforming Health Care through Digital Revolutions

“…An attractive set of applications such as electrocardiogram (ECG), temperature, respiration, heart rate, blood pressure, and blood oxygen monitoring can be offered by radio-enabled wearable medical sensors. Similarly, novel applications such as smart pills for precision drug delivery as well as glucose monitors, blood pressure sensing systems, and eye pressure sensors for glaucoma patients can become reality using implantable sensor nodes with wireless control 28 . In addition to developing innovative design methodologies to address the protective requirements (P8), tools and techniques need to be developed to measure the safety and efficacy of these devices—at both the software and the hardware levels.…”

Localization of an ultra wide band wireless endoscopy capsule inside the human body using received signal strength and centroid algorithm

“…Current WCE systems have a significant problem in the sense that there is no way to localize the capsule as it moves through the GI tract [12]. This means that if any of the images reveal a potentially abnormal condition (such as a tumor or a lesion) there is no way to know just where in the GI tract the condition exists, making subsequent surgical interventions very difficult and more risky for the patient [13]. Thus, it is critical to come up with techniques to accurately localize the endoscopy capsule as it moves through the GI tract.…”

Computational signal analysis methods for information extraction with applications in biomedicine

“…A cyber physical system for simultaneous RF experimentation and 3D imaging inside the small intestine has been proposed in (Pahlavan et al 2015). 3D reconstruction was based on a hybrid localization and mapping technique.…”