The Smallest Camera in the World
October 9, 2009 – 9:14 amMedigus, an Israeli company that specialises in developing innovative endoscopic devices and procedures, has teamed up with Tower Semiconductor to produce reportedly the world’s smallest medical camera, according to a report from Israel21c.
The device, which measures 1.27 mm (0.05 in.) in diameter, can be incorporated into endoscopes. Mounted on a disposable endoscope, the camera is also cheap to produce, therefore, does not need to be sterilised after each use.
The company has sent out samples to various companies and hopes to begin mass distribution in the first quarter of 2010. The demand is already there, says Adi Frish, Chief of Business Development, adding, “We’ve been receiving requests on a large scale from device companies in different fields.”
Frish told ISRAEL21c that a further advantage of using the camera is reliability. On an X-ray, doctors can only see black and white components, and with dyes, they see an assemblage of colours. Cameras offer direct visualisation for a much more reliable and complete diagnosis.
“Our device will provide physicians with more reliable visualisation data on the status of the patient or organ,” Frish asserts. “It’s direct vision, so you can see the actual lumen, the actual body from the inside.”
Applications for the new camera include treatments for the ear, nose and throat; insertion into the nose, obviates procedures that require the patient to be anaesthetised. In addition, gastroscopy, which currently requires anaesthesia, could become a simple process that takes just a few minutes.
The technology is based on the CMOS sensors found in digital cameras, which are produced by Tower. “It’s a very complex technological achievement, both to produce such a small sensor, as well as to assemble such a small camera,” remarks Frish. “In a camera you have objective lenses, and you have to assemble all the electronic components together into the wire. It’s a very difficult thing to achieve.” Frish describes the invention as a breakthrough.
Annie Ellerton
