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Engineers send self-powered robots down oil and gas pipelines to check their
condition. So researchers at University College London have devised a similar
technique for use inside the gut (WO 98/11816). Two small units, which the
researchers liken to a string of sausages, contain a TV camera, a radio
transmitter, a battery and a motor. Controlled by radio signals from a joystick,
the motor contorts the sausages in waves, making them “wiggle” through the gut.
Images transmitted to a monitor let doctors see what is happening without
exposing patients to the danger of X-rays or uncomfortable endoscopes.