Capsule and method for treating or diagnosing the intestinal tract
First Claim
1. A system for tracking the location of an autonomous capsule through the gastro-intestinal tract of a patient comprising:
- an acoustic transducer transmitter and an acoustic transducer receiver, wherein the acoustic transmitter is arranged to transmit a tracking signal from the acoustic transmitter to the acoustic receiver, between the autonomous capsule and a location external to a patient'"'"'s body, and wherein in use, the acoustic transmitter is located at one of the autonomous capsule and the location external the patient'"'"'s body and the acoustic receiver is located at the other of the autonomous capsule and the location external the patient'"'"'s body.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A device and method for mapping, diagnosing and treating the intestinal tract is provided using a capsule passing through the intestinal tract. Further, a capsule tracking system is provided for tracking a capsule'"'"'s location along the length of an intestinal tract as various treatment and/or sensing modalities are employed. In one variation, an acoustic signal is used to determine the location of the capsule. A map of sensed information may be derived from the pass of a capsule. Capsules may be subsequently passed through to treat the intestinal tract at a determined location along its length. One variation uses an electrical stimulation capsule to treat and/or diagnose a condition in the intestinal tract.
-
Citations
184 Claims
-
1. A system for tracking the location of an autonomous capsule through the gastro-intestinal tract of a patient comprising:
-
an acoustic transducer transmitter and an acoustic transducer receiver, wherein the acoustic transmitter is arranged to transmit a tracking signal from the acoustic transmitter to the acoustic receiver, between the autonomous capsule and a location external to a patient'"'"'s body, and wherein in use, the acoustic transmitter is located at one of the autonomous capsule and the location external the patient'"'"'s body and the acoustic receiver is located at the other of the autonomous capsule and the location external the patient'"'"'s body. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49)
-
-
50. A system for treating or diagnosing the intestinal tract comprising:
-
an autonomous capsule comprising an acoustic transducer, the transducer being arranged to emit an acoustic signal detectable externally of a patient'"'"'s body as the capsule passes through at least a portion of the intestinal tract; and
at least one external acoustic receiver configured to sense the acoustic signal transmitted by the capsule. - View Dependent Claims (51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 90, 91, 92, 93)
-
-
89. An autonomous capsule for treatment or diagnosis of an intestinal tract of a patient comprising:
-
a capsule body sized to pass through the intestinal tract of a patient, the capsule body including an acoustic transducer, the acoustic transducer being arranged to emit an acoustic signal detectable externally of a patient'"'"'s body as the capsule passes through at least a portion of the intestinal tract; and
a reference signal generator arranged to generate a signal from which the time of the acoustic signal generation is determined.
-
-
94. An autonomous capsule for treatment or diagnosis of an intestinal tract including a capsule body comprising a plurality of acoustic transducers and an energy source coupled to each of the transducers, each of the plurality of transducers being arranged to emit an acoustic signal detectable externally of a patient'"'"'s body as the capsule passes through at least a portion of the intestinal tract to provide information from which the orientation of the capsule is derived.
-
95. A system for treating or diagnosing the intestinal tract comprising:
-
an autonomous capsule comprising an acoustic transducer, the transducer being arranged to emit an acoustic signal detectable externally of a patient'"'"'s body as the capsule passes through at least a portion of the intestinal tract; and
a reference signal generator arranged to generate a signal from which the time of the acoustic signal generation is determined.
-
-
96. An intestinal tract diagnostic system comprising:
-
a capsule including;
a sensor arranged to sense a condition of a portion of an intestinal tract at a plurality of locations along a length; and
a position identifier configured to transmit information identifying the location of the capsule as it passes through the portion of the intestinal tract.An external receiver, external to the capsule configured to receive the information identifying the location of the capsule; and
a processor coupled to the external receiver to receive the information identifying the location of the capsule, the processor configured to determine a position of the capsule along a length of the portion of the intestinal tract at each of the plurality of locations. - View Dependent Claims (97, 98, 99, 100)
-
-
101. An intestinal tract treatment system comprising:
-
a first capsule including;
a sensor arranged to sense a condition of a portion of an intestinal tract at a location of the first capsule along a length of a portion of the intestinal tract as the first capsule passes through a portion of the intestinal tract;
a first position identifier configured to transmit information identifying the location of the first capsule and a sensed condition transmitter configured to transmit information concerning the sensed condition; and
;
a receiver external to the first capsule, configured to receive the information identifying the location of the first capsule and information concerning the sensed condition;
a processor configured to communicate with the receiver to receive the information identifying location of the first capsule and information concerning the sensed condition, wherein the processor is configured to determine a location of the sensed condition along a length of the portion of the intestinal tract at the location; and
a second capsule including;
a treatment device arranged to provide a therapeutic function within the portion of the intestinal tract; and
a second position identifier configured to transmit information identifying a location of the second capsule along the length of the the portion of the intestinal tract as it passes through the portion of the intestinal tract, wherein the processor is configured to determine a location of the second capsule corresponding to the location of the sensed condition along the length of the intestinal tract. - View Dependent Claims (102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107)
-
-
108. A method for treating an intestinal tract of a patient comprising the steps of:
-
providing a first capsule comprising;
a first acoustic transducer;
providing a second acoustic transducer acoustically coupled to the patient at a location external to the patient'"'"'s body;
introducing the first capsule into the intestinal tract wherein the capsule moves through the intestinal tract;
causing an acoustic signal to be emitted between the first and second acoustic transducers as the first capsule passes through at least a portion of the intestinal tract;
determining a time lag between emitting the acoustic signal from the one the first and second transducers and receiving the signal at the other of the first and second transducers; and
determining a first location of the capsule at least in part from the time lag. - View Dependent Claims (109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 139, 141, 142, 143, 144, 146, 148, 149, 150, 151, 153, 154, 155, 158, 159, 160, 161, 162, 165, 166, 170, 171, 172, 173, 175, 176, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184)
-
-
128. A method of treating a portion of an intestinal tract comprising the steps of:
-
passing a capsule through the portion of the intestinal tract determining the capsule'"'"'s location along the length of the portion of the intestinal tract, identifying a location along the length to be treated, passing a second capsule through the intestinal tract, identifying when the second capsule has reached the location along the length to be treated; and
providing treatment with the second capsule to the location along the length of the intestinal tract.
-
-
138. A method for diagnosing and/or treating an intestinal tract comprising:
-
providing a capsule comprising;
a capsule body including an electronic circuit; and
at least one electrode coupled to the capsule body, the at least one electrode being in communication with the electronic circuit;
introducing the capsule into the intestinal tract wherein the capsule moves through the intestinal tract so that the at least one electrode is in contact with tissue in the intestinal tract;
receiving an inherent electrical signal from the tissue in the electronic circuit through the electrode;
identifying a location along a length of the intestinal tract corresponding to the inherent electrical signal.
-
-
140. A system for treating or diagnosing the intestinal tract of a patient comprising:
-
first capsule means for passing through the intestinal tract of a patient;
means for tracking the first capsule means, the means for tracking located external to the patient'"'"'s body;
an acoustic signal means for transmitting an acoustic signal between the first capsule means as it is passing through the intestinal tract of a patient, and the means for tracking;
a location determining means for determining the location of the first capsule means on a coordinate system.
-
-
145. A system for treating or diagnosing the intestinal tract of a patient comprising:
-
a capsule means for emitting a detectable acoustic signal as it passes through at least a portion of the intestinal tract; and
receiver means for receiving the acoustic signal external to the patient, the receiver means comprising at least one acoustic sensor;
processor means for determining the location of the capsule means on a coordinate system based on the acoustic signal received at the receiver means.
-
-
147. A system for treating or diagnosing the intestinal tract of a patient comprising:
-
capsule means for passing through a portion of an intestinal tract;
means for determining location of the capsule means along a length of a portion of the intestinal tract;
sensing means for sensing a characteristic of the intestinal tract;
tracking means for tracking the location of the capsule means with respect to the sensed characteristic at the location.
-
-
152. A capsule for treatment or diagnosis of an intestinal tract of a patient comprising:
-
a capsule means for emitting a detectable acoustic signal as it passes through at least a portion of the intestinal tract; and
reference means for determining the time of acoustic signal origination from the capsule means.
-
-
156. A capsule for treatment or diagnosis of an intestinal tract comprising:
-
a capsule body;
an electronic circuit; and
at least one electrode coupled to the capsule body, the at least one electrode being in communication with the electronic circuit, wherein the capsule body is arranged to pass through at least a portion of the intestinal tract, whereby the at least one electrode is positioned to be in electrical contact with at least a portion of the intestinal tract, wherein the at least one electrode is located on an elongate member coupled to the capsule body.
-
-
157. The capsule of claim 1356 wherein the elongate member comprises an elastically behaving material.
-
163. A capsule for treatment or diagnosis of an intestinal tract comprising:
-
a capsule body;
an electronic circuit; and
at least three electrodes coupled to the capsule body, the electrodes being in communication with the electronic circuit, wherein the capsule body is arranged to pass through at least a portion of the intestinal tract, whereby at least one electrode pair is selectable from the at least three electrodes.
-
-
164. A capsule for treatment or diagnosis of an intestinal tract comprising:
a capsule body;
an electronic circuit; and
at least one electrode coupled to the capsule body, the electrode being in communication with the electronic circuit, a sensor arranged to measure contractile forces exerted by a portion of the intestinal tract wherein the capsule body is arranged to pass through at least a portion of the intestinal tract, whereby the electrode is positioned to be in electrical contact with at least a portion of the intestinal tract, wherein the sensor comprises a pressure sensing device, and wherein the pressure sensing device comprises an inflatable member having an inner chamber for receving an inflation medium and a pressure transducer in fluid communication with the inner chamber, the pressure transducer configured to convert the sensed pressure into a representative electrical signal.
-
167. A capsule for diagnosing an intestinal tract comprising:
-
a first electrode pair and a second electrode pair spaced from the first electrode pair;
a stimulation circuit configured to provide a stimulating signal through the first electrode pair and a sensing circuit configured to sense an electrical signal through the second electrode pair.
-
-
168. A method for diagnosing an intestinal tract comprising the steps of:
-
providing a capsule having a first electrode pair and a second electrode pair spaced from the first electrode pair, and a stimulation circuit coupled to the first electrode pair and a sensing circuit coupled to the second electrode pair;
introducing the capsule into the intestinal tract of a patient;
delivering a stimulation signal to the first electrode pair; and
sensing with the second electrode pair, an electrical potential in the intestinal tract adjacent the second electrode pair and resulting from the stimulation signal delivered through the first electrode pair.
-
-
169. A capsule for treatment or diagnosis of an intestinal tract comprising:
-
a capsule body including an electronic circuit;
at least one electrode coupled to the capsule body, the at least one electrode being in communication with the electronic circuit, wherein the capsule body is arranged to pass through at least a portion of the intestinal tract, whereby the at least one electrode is positioned to be in electrical contact with at least a portion of the intestinal tract; and
a telemetry circuit operative to receive an instruction signal comprising a trigger signal from an external source, the telemetry circuit coupled to the at least one electrode so that when the capsule is deployed and a trigger signal is provided, an electrical stimulation pulse is delivered to a portion of the intestinal wall.
-
-
174. A method for treating an intestinal tract comprising the steps of:
-
providing a capsule comprising;
a capsule body including an electronic circuit;
at least one electrode coupled to the capsule body, the at least one electrode being in communication with the electronic circuit; and
a telemetry circuit coupled to the at least one electrode;
introducing the capsule into the intestinal tract wherein the capsule moves through the intestinal tract; and
transmitting an instruction signal comprising a trigger signal from an external source to the telemetry circuit to trigger a stimulation pulse provided to a portion of the intestinal wall.
-
Specification