The little Mermaid- Now reaches inside your Body!!

Well, Dont be shocked by this title, as the Mermaid is definitley going to swim inside your body and take photographs of your entire digestive Tract!!

Awestruck? Well, Mermaid is the name given to a self-propelled remote-controlled endoscopic capsule that that can examine the human stomach and colon.

The device is just 1.7 inch long and has a tail fin-like magnetic driving gear that allow it to “swim” through the digestive tract. It is controlled using a joystick and can be swallowed or inserted rectally.

The Mermaid can examine the whole human digestive canal from the esophagus to the colon in a few hours, while taking two shots per second. The battery for the endoscope’s camera lasts around eight to 10 hours, and the device can move tens of centimeters per second outside the human body.

Controlled by a joy stick, device is merely 1cm x 4.5cm and has a tail fin-like magnetic driving gear.(Credit: Ryukoku University)

The driving gear is powered by an electromagnet. The capsule was first tested inside a dog’s stomach in 2009 and now a smaller version of it is being tested in humans.

Developed by researchers at Ryukoku University, Osaka Medical College, and a private-sector firm, the Mermaid provides an alternative to the unpleasant experience of having a tube shoved into your throat or backside!!

Naotake Otsuka, professor emeritus at Ryukoku University's Faculty of Science and Technology, said he tested the Mermaid himself and had no problems swallowing it.

The prospect of controlling a device that can be maneuvered as per your controls and which is capable of taking images of the whole of the digestive tract easily...without the patient even knowing proves to be a brighter one!!

Just Imagine the little mermaid taking pics of your insides.....ahh!!


(via CNET news)

Posted in: endoscope capsule,mermaid,swimming endoscope