Cork team working to enhance diagnosis of digestive diseases

Researchers at University College Cork (UCC) and Tyndall National Institute are spearheading a project designed to enhance the diagnosis of digestive diseases through more precise intestinal tract examination technology.

The SaorTrack project, which has secured €150,000 in funding from the European Research Council (ERC), aims to make capsule endoscopy the standard of care for digestive disease diagnostics in Europe by solving the problem of capsule localisation.

Its innovative wireless tracking technology overcomes the limitations of existing capsule endoscopy leading to improved patient outcomes.

The team, led by Professor Pádraig Cantillon-Murphy of the School of Engineering and Architecture at UCC and Tyndall, includes experts in engineering and circuit design from Tyndall.

SaorTrack is designed to address issues with current diagnostics of digestive diseases by using the first on-chip sensor for magnetic navigation with advanced wireless communication to provide real-time location tracking inside the intestines.

Digestive diseases are typically diagnosed by CT scan followed by diagnostic endoscopy or colonoscopy. Capsule endoscopy, which uses a small swallowable camera pill to visualise the patient’s gut, is popular with patients but has not replaced diagnostic endoscopy due to insufficient location accuracy and video coverage.

Professor Cantillon-Murphy said: “High-accuracy wireless tracking can transform existing clinical applications of magnetic tracking such as electrophysiology mapping of the beating heart by dramatically reducing wire clutter in the operating room and simplifying the clinical workflow.”