Tethered capsule endoscope for Barrett's Esophagus screening

A capsular system for scanning an inner surface of a lumen in a body, comprising:

• (a) a housing defining a capsule that is sized to fit within a lumen in a body and to be readily advanced therethrough;
• (b) a flexible tether connected to the capsule and having a length sufficient to extend proximally external of a lumen in which the housing is disposed, wherein the flexible tether is of sufficient strength to retract the capsule from the lumen but is too flexible to push the capsule distally through the lumen;
• (c) a light source that produces light for illuminating an inner surface of a lumen in which the housing is disposed;
• (d) a scanner having an actuator that drives the scanner to scan an inner surface of a lumen in a body in a desired scanning pattern with a beam of light from the scanner;
• and
• (e) a light sensor that receives light reflected from a region of an inner surface of a lumen, producing a signal indicative of an intensity thereof.

A method for scanning an inner surface of a lumen in a body, comprising the steps of:

• (a) introducing a capsule that includes a scanner into the lumen, the capsule further including a tether coupled to the capsule;
• (b) enabling the capsule to advance through the lumen, with a proximal end of the tether remaining outside the lumen;
• (c) controlling a disposition of the capsule within the lumen by exerting a force on the tether;
• (d) producing an image of the inner surface of the lumen with the scanner;
• and
• (e) reproducibly tracking a distance through which the capsule moves within the lumen.

An imaging probe for producing images of a surface within a body lumen, comprising:

• (a) a capsule disposed at a distal end of the imaging probe, said capsule being sized to enable the capsule to be readily introduced into a body lumen and including an imaging device for producing a signal that is usable to display an image of an inner surface within a body lumen;
• (b) a tether having a proximal end, and a distal end that is coupled to the capsule, said tether being flexible and substantially smaller in diameter than the capsule and being employed for moving the capsule and for conveying signals produced by the imaging device for use in displaying an image of an inner surface of a body lumen;
• and
• (c) means for reproducibly tracking a distance through which the capsule moves within the body lumen.

Apparatus for imaging an inner surface of a lumen within a body, comprising:

• (a) a capsule housing that is sized to readily pass through the lumen, at least a portion of the capsule housing being optically transparent;
• (b) a light source;
• (c) a scanner disposed within the capsule housing and coupled to the light source, the scanner having an actuator that drives the scanner to scan an inner surface of a lumen in a body with a beam of light that moves in a desired scanning pattern;
• (d) at least one light sensor that responds to light that has been reflected from an inner surface of a lumen, producing an electrical signal that is indicative of an intensity of the light;
• (e) an optical system that focuses the light used for scanning in the desired scanning pattern onto a portion of an inner surface of a lumen;
• (f) a tether that is connected to the capsule housing and which is configured to extend proximally through a lumen to enable a force to be applied to the capsule housing to control a movement of the capsule housing;
• and
• (g) an inflatable balloon coupled to the capsule, the balloon being inflated to at least one of:
• (i) enable peristaltic advancement of the balloon with the capsule through a lumen in a body by forces applied by the lumen on the balloon when the balloon is at least partially inflated;
• (ii) convey a fluid pressure from a wall of a lumen in which the balloon is disposed, to a pressure sensor that enables a pressure exerted thereby on the balloon to be monitored;
• (iii) prevent further movement of the capsule housing through a lumen having a cross-sectional size that is smaller than that of the balloon when the balloon is at least partially inflated;
• and
• (iv) generally center the capsule housing within a lumen of a body.

A method for scanning an inner surface of a lumen in a body, comprising the steps of:

• (a) introducing a capsule that includes a scanner into the lumen, the capsule being coupled to a tether;
• (b) enabling the capsule to advance through the lumen, with a proximal end of the tether remaining outside the lumen;
• (c) controlling a disposition of the capsule within the lumen by exerting a force on the tether;
• (d) producing an image of the inner surface of the lumen with the scanner;
• and
• (e) enabling a user to selectively allow the capsule to pass through the lumen without further constraint from the tether by carrying out one of the steps of:
• (i) releasing the proximal end of the tether so that both the tether and the capsule can move through the lumen;
• and
• (ii) releasing the capsule from the tether so that the capsule can move through the lumen free of the tether.