PATENTS
Magnetically Maneuverable In-Vivo Device
Patent Number: WO 2012/077107 A3
Date Filed: June 14, 2012
Country Filed In: WIPO
Product Application: Magnetically Maneuverable In-Vivo Device
Description:
An in-vivo device includes a magnetic steering unit (MSU) to maneuver it by an external electromagnetic field. The MSU may include a permanent magnets assembly to produce a magnetic force for navigating the device. The MSU may include a magnets carrying assembly (MCA) to accommodate the permanent magnet(s ). The MCA may be designed to generate eddy currents, in response to AC magnetic field, to apply a repelling force. The in-vivo device may also include a multilayered imaging and sensing printed circuit board (MISP) to capture and transmit images. The MISP may include a sensing coil assembly (SCA) to sense electromagnetic fields to determine a location/orientation/angular position of the in-vivo device. Data representing location/orientation/angular position of the device may be used by a maneuvering system to generate a steering magnetic field to steer the in-vivo device from one location or state to another location or state.
Field of Use: The Magnetically Maneuverable In-Vivo Device was envisioned to provide a better solution for providing physicians the ability to image the entire gastrointestinal tract of a patient to diagnose potential disease issues. As the current technology was passive autonomous “pill-cam” devices, which passively move through the system with no control over images obtained, or standard colonoscopy and endoscopy visualization which cannot traverse the entire GI tract, this technology would allow a physician to steer this device in any direction of orientation and navigation using magnetic fields, such as those initiated by the CGCI system, to control it.