In Vivo Capsule Device with Electrodes

Abstract

A capsule endoscopic device with movement control is disclosed. The capsule endoscopic device comprises a capsule housing, one or more electrodes disposed fixedly through the capsule housing and a processing unit inside the capsule housing. The electrodes apply electrical stimulus to living body tissue in a patient's gastrointestinal track. The processing unit generates the electrical stimulus according to a quantified movement of the capsule endoscopic device to adjust movement of the capsule endoscopic device. Also, the capsule device can be configured for multi-function electrodes. In one embodiment, the capsule device can be configured to use the electrodes to adjust movement in vivo. In another embodiment, the capsule device can be configured to use the electrodes to download data stored in an archive memory inside the capsule device. In yet another embodiment, the capsule device can configure the electrodes to collect electrochemical data.

1 . A capsule endoscopic device comprising:
 a capsule housing;   one or more electrodes disposed fixedly through the capsule housing, wherein said one or more electrodes apply electrical stimulus to living body tissue in a patient's gastrointestinal track; and   a processing unit inside the capsule housing to provide the electrical stimulus to said one or more electrodes, wherein the processing unit generates the electrical stimulus according to a quantified movement of the capsule endoscopic device to adjust movement of the capsule endoscopic device.   
     
     
         2 . The capsule endoscopic device of  claim 1 , wherein duration, frequency, duty cycle, or pulse width of the electrical stimulus or any combination thereof is adjusted according to the quantified movement of the capsule endoscopic device. 
     
     
         3 . The capsule endoscopic device of  claim 1 , wherein duration and intensity of the electrical stimulus are adjusted according to the quantified movement of the capsule endoscopic device. 
     
     
         4 . The capsule endoscopic device of  claim 3 , wherein the duration and the intensity of the electrical stimulus are adjusted simultaneously until the duration or the intensity reaches a limit, or the duration and the intensity of the electrical stimulus are adjusted separately. 
     
     
         5 . The capsule endoscopic device of  claim 1 , wherein the quantified movement of the capsule endoscopic device corresponds to transit speed or pose of the capsule endoscopic device. 
     
     
         6 . The capsule endoscopic device of  claim 1  further comprising an image sensor to capture images when the capsule endoscopic device travels inside the patient's gastrointestinal track, wherein the quantified movement of the capsule endoscopic device is determined based on the images. 
     
     
         7 . The capsule endoscopic device of  claim 6 , wherein motion estimation is applied to the images to derive motion information and the motion information is used as the quantified movement. 
     
     
         8 . The capsule endoscopic device of  claim 7 , wherein the motion estimation is applied to a subset of the images, wherein the subset of the images is generated by spatially and/or temporarily sub-sampling the images, or cropping the images. 
     
     
         9 . The capsule endoscopic device of  claim 7 , wherein global motion is derived from the motion information and the global motion is used as the quantified movement. 
     
     
         10 . The capsule endoscopic device of  claim 9 , wherein the global motion is derived from the motion information associated with the images over a period of time based on an average, mean, median or majority of the motion information. 
     
     
         11 . The capsule endoscopic device of  claim 7 , wherein the motion estimation is performed by a motion estimation module inside the capsule housing. 
     
     
         12 . The capsule endoscopic device of  claim 11 , wherein the motion estimation module is shared by video compression of the images. 
     
     
         13 . The capsule endoscopic device of  claim 6 , wherein pose of the capsule endoscopic device is estimated from the images and the estimated pose of the capsule endoscopic device is used as the quantified movement. 
     
     
         14 . The capsule endoscopic device of  claim 13 , wherein the pose of the capsule endoscopic device includes capsule a longitudinal axis and, if an angle between the capsule longitudinal axis and a second axis exceeds a threshold, the electrical stimulus is generated to reduce the angle, wherein the second axis is perpendicular to a cross section of the patient's gastrointestinal track where the capsule endoscopic device is located. 
     
     
         15 . The capsule endoscopic device of  claim 6 , wherein the quantified movement of the capsule endoscopic device is determined by a motion processing module inside the capsule endoscopic device or by an external device outside the capsule endoscopic device. 
     
     
         16 . The capsule endoscopic device of  claim 15  further comprising a wireless link inside the capsule endoscopic device to transmit the images to the external device and the external device corresponds to a base station. 
     
     
         17 . The capsule endoscopic device of  claim 1 , wherein the capsule endoscopic device is configured to activate the processing unit to generate the electrical stimulus based on a predefined schedule or when the capsule endoscopic device reaches an intended location within the patient's gastrointestinal track. 
     
     
         18 . The capsule endoscopic device of  claim 1  further comprising a first sensor inside the capsule housing and a second sensor fixedly attached to a patient's body to provide the quantified movement of the capsule endoscopic device, wherein the first sensor and the second sensor are selected from a group consisting of a gyroscope, accelerometer, and electron compass. 
     
     
         19 . The capsule endoscopic device of  claim 1  further comprising four or more LEDs configured symmetrically around a longitudinal axis of the capsule endoscopic device to illuminate intestine walls of the patient's gastrointestinal track, wherein image intensities received from different sides of the capsule endoscopic device are used to determine whether the capsule endoscopic device is closer to one side of the intestine walls than another side of the intestine walls. 
     
     
         20 . The capsule endoscopic device of  claim 19 , wherein multiple electrodes are configured at one end of the capsule endoscopic device in a longitudinal direction, and the electrical stimulus is applied to the multiple electrodes to steer the capsule endoscopic device to a desired position. 
     
     
         21 . The capsule endoscopic device of  claim 1 , wherein at least one electrode is located at each end of the capsule endoscopic device in a longitudinal direction, and the electrical stimulus is applied to said at least one electrode at each end of the capsule endoscopic device to cause to the capsule endoscopic device to move faster or slower. 
     
     
         22 . The capsule endoscopic device of  claim 1 , wherein the electrical stimulus is not applied to said one or more electrodes if the quantified movement of the capsule endoscopic device is not available. 
     
     
         23 . The capsule endoscopic device of  claim 1 , wherein one or more first electrodes are located at a first end of the capsule endoscopic device and one or more second electrodes are located at a second end of the capsule endoscopic device in a longitudinal direction, and a first momentary electrical stimulus is applied to said one or more first electrodes and a second momentary electrical stimulus is applied to said one or more second electrodes to cause momentary agitation to the patient's gastrointestinal track. 
     
     
         24 . The capsule endoscopic device of  claim 23 , wherein the first momentary electrical stimulus and the second momentary electrical stimulus are applied at a same time substantially. 
     
     
         25 . A capsule endoscopic device comprising:
 a capsule housing;   one or more electrodes disposed fixedly through the capsule housing, wherein said one or more electrodes apply electrical stimulus to living body tissue in a patient's gastrointestinal track;   a first processing unit to generate the electrical stimulus for said one or more electrodes;   a second processing unit comprising a first archival memory and an interface circuit; and   a switch module coupled to said one or more electrodes, the first processing unit and the second processing unit, wherein the switch module is configured to connect said one or more electrodes to the first processing unit or the second processing unit depending on an operation mode; and   wherein the switch module, the first processing unit and the second processing unit are inside the capsule housing.   
     
     
         26 . The capsule endoscopic device of  claim 25 , wherein the capsule endoscopic device is set to a capture mode and the switch module is configured to connect said one or more electrodes to the first processing unit when the capsule endoscopic device is in the patient's gastrointestinal track. 
     
     
         27 . The capsule endoscopic device of  claim 25 , wherein the capsule endoscopic device is set to a download mode and the switch module is configured to connect said one or more electrodes to the second processing unit when the capsule endoscopic device exits from a patient's body. 
     
     
         28 . The capsule endoscopic device of  claim 27 , wherein the interface circuit retrieves archived data stored in the first archival memory and provides the archived data to said one or more electrodes. 
     
     
         29 . The capsule endoscopic device of  claim 25  further comprising a third processing unit inside the capsule housing coupled to the switch module, wherein the third processing unit comprises a second archive memory and a signal processing circuit. 
     
     
         30 . The capsule endoscopic device of  claim 29 , wherein the first archive memory and the second archive memory share a common archive memory. 
     
     
         31 . The capsule endoscopic device of  claim 29 , wherein the capsule endoscopic device is set to a data collection mode and the switch module is configured to connect said one or more electrodes to the third processing unit when the capsule endoscopic device is in the patient's gastrointestinal track and collection of electrochemical parameters is performed. 
     
     
         32 . The capsule endoscopic device of  claim 31 , wherein the signal processing circuit processes sensed signals from said one or more electrodes and stores the sensed signals in the second archive memory.