Ioannis Intzes
Start date: October 01 2012
Email: dc10iii@brunel.ac.uk
Supervisor: Dr Hongying Meng
PhD Research Title: Improvements in compression algorithm and wireless technology of swallowable capsule for minimum power consumption and high quality images
Medical Technology has undergone major breakthroughs. Some of these breakthroughs cover the area of the examination tools used for diagnostic purposes. One of the breakthroughs is the examination of the gastrointestinal system for various diseases and illnesses. Until now more traditional examination methods for the diagnosis of gastrointestinal diseases were used.
A novel approach to this issue is the SmartPill which is a swallowable capsule/pill that contains the appropriate sensors (image, chemical and biochemical) to collect the necessary information so the attending doctors can formulate a more precise diagnosis.
In this research we propose the design of an efficient image coding system which meets the requirements for low power, mobility and low complexity.
In 1966 a swallowable capsule appeared in a science fiction movie. Nowadays swallowable capsule is reality. A swallowable capsule is “a self-contained microsystem that performs a sensing or actuating function in the body”. Swallowable capsule and its subsystems are shown in figure 1. Some capsules/pills use only sensors (temperature, ph, pressure) and others use camera to record the internal of the patient. Our research focuses on the category of the capsules/pills that use camera. In figure 1 we can see the subsystems of a swallowable capsule, in figure 2 the diagram of our proposed swallowable capsule and in the figure3 is the block diagram of the subsystems.
Figure 2 Flow chart of working sequence
Figure 3 Block diagram of the proposed system
The disadvantages of using pills are incomplete medical examinations due to the fact that their battery is charged off before the capsule completes the examination. In the esophagus the examination may be incomplete due to rapid passage of the capsule in the stomach. Recently the method "capsule with a thread tied" has been tested and permits a detailed examination of the esophagus. In some cases for example when the final ileus is unclean, the images are inappropriate. There is also the problem of depletion of batteries before the capsule reaches the desired point.
From the above disadvantages our research will focus on search for solutions at two of them. The first idea refers to the early passage of the capsule from the esophagus into the stomach. The existing systems use camera with frame rate from 2 to 8 frames per second. We suggest the increment of the frame rate up to 20 frames per second and use high quality images (e.g. 3D images). This could be achieved only by using compression techniques that use less processing power. As a result of the above the power consumption will be decreased. Furthermore by the use of compression techniques we decrease the amount of data we have to transmit. So we can use wireless communication techniques that have extremely low power consumption.
The second problem for solution is the power consumption. We will investigate ways to improve the power consumption of the capsule, so as to complete the examination successfully. Due to the use of compression techniques, we can use the NFC (Near Field Communication) technology. Studies have shown that this technology can be used in devices inside the human body. This technology also can use the wireless energy transfer, so that the capsule will not run out of energy before finishing the examination.
