a b

c d

e f

hg

Figure 1 (a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h). Samples of images of the small bowel acquired by the capsule endoscope from the in vivo studies. a,b show gastric folds in the body of the stomach, c,d show the villous pattern of the small bowel enchanced by the presence of a little water and air bubble in the lumen, e,f are airless images of normal jejunum viewed with the lumen closed in front of the optical dome of the capsule, g and h are views of the terminal ileum.

Wireless link

Wired link

Capsule

Workstation

Recorder andantennae

Figure 2. Design of the capsule endoscope system: Video capsule, Receiver & Recorder, Workstation.

Optics and

Illumination

Imager

Transmitter

Antennae arrayAntenna

Receiver

Digital processing

CPU

Data storage

CAPSULE RECORDER WORKSTATION

PC

Display

Software

Figure 3. Block diagram of the capsule endoscope system. In the first stage the capsule acquires the images. The object is illuminated by the LED illumination system, and the image is projected on the imager by an optical system. The image is then transmitted outside the body by means of the transmitter and antenna. In the second stage antennae array and the receiver collect the transmitted signal. The received data is subsequently processed and stored in the data storage by CPU. In the third stage the date is retrieved from the recorder and transferred to the Workstation for additional processing and presentation on the display.

a b c d

e f g h

i

Figure 4.a,b - epiglottis. c,d - esophagus. e - stomach, gastric folds. f - intestine. g,h - caecum.i - large intestine, no preparation was performed - content of large intestine is visible.