03-09-2014, 04:55 PM
PILL CAMERA
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INTRODUCTION
The aim of technology is to make products in a large scale for cheaper prices and increased quality. The current technologies have attained a part of it , but the manufacturing technology is at macro level. The future lies in manufacturing product right from the molecular level. Research in this direction started way back in eighties. At that time manufacturing at molecular and atomic level was laughed about. But due to advent of nanotechnology we have realized it to a certain level. One such product
manufactured is PILL CAMERA, which is used for the treatment of cancer, ulcer and anemia. It has made revolution in the field of medicine
This tiny capsule can pass through our body, without causing any harm it. It takes pictures of our intestine and transmits the same to the receiver of the computer analysis of our digestive system. This process can help tracking any kind of disease related to digestive system. Also we have discussed the drawbacks of PILL CAMERA and how these drawbacks can be overcome by using Grain sized motor and bi-directional wireless telemetry capsule .Besides this we have reviewed the process of manufacturing products using nanotechnology . Some other important applications are also discussed along with their potential impacts on various fields.
HISTORICAL OVERVIEW
Manipulation of atoms is first talked about by noble laureate Dr.Richard Feyngman long ago in 1959 at the annual meeting of theAmerican Physical Society at the California institute of technology -
Caltech. and at that time it was laughed about. Nothing was pursued init till 80’s. The concept of nanotechnology is introduced by Drexler in the year 1981 through his article “The Engines of Creation”. In 1990, IBM researchers showed that it is possible to manipulate single atoms. They positioned 35 Xenon atoms on the surface of nickelcrystal, using an atomic force microscopy instrument. These positioned atoms spelled out the letters”IBM”.
MANUFACTURING PRODUCTS USING NANOTECHNOLOGY
There are three steps to achieving nanotechnology-produced goods:
Atoms are the building blocks for all matter in our Universe. All the products that are manufactured are made from atoms. The properties of those products depend of how those atoms are arranged .for e.g. If we rearrange the atoms in coal we get diamonds, if we rearrange the atoms in sand and add a pinch of impurities we get computer chips. Scientists must be able to manipulate individual atoms. This means that they will have to develop a technique to grab single atoms and move them to desired positions. In 1990, IBM researchers showed this by positioning 35 xenon atoms on the surface of a nickel crystal, using an atomic force microscopy instrument. These positioned atoms spelled out the letters "IBM."
• The next step will be to develop nanoscopic machines, called assemblers, that can be programmed to manipulate atoms and molecules at will. It would take thousands of years for a single assembler to produce any kind of material one atom at a time. Trillions of assemblers will be needed to develop products in a viable time frame.In order to create enough assemblers to build consumer goods, some nanomachines called explicators will be developed using self replication process, will be programmed to build more assemblers. Self replication is a process in which devices whose diameters are of atomic
POTENTIAL EFFECTS OF NANOTECHNOLOGY
As televisions, airplanes ,computers revolutionized the world in the last century, scientists claim that nanotechnology will have an even more profound effect on the next century. Nanotechnology is likely to change the way almost everything, including medicine, computers and cars, are designed and constructed.
One of the fascinating application of nanotechnology in the field of medicine is in the form of Pill camera. Pill camera has shown to world what wonders miniaturization can workout
Conventional method
Currently, standard method of detecting abnormalities in the intestines is through endoscopic examination in which doctors advance a scope down into the small intestine via the mouth. However, these scopes are unable to reach through all of the 20-foot-long small intestine, and thus provide only a partial view of that part of the bowel. With the help of pill camera not only candiagnoses be made for certain conditions routinely missed by other tests, but disorders can be detected at an earlier stage, enabling treatment before complications develop
WORKING
It is slightly larger than normal capsule. The patient swallows the capsule and the natural muscular waves of the digestive tract propel it forward through stomach, into small intestine, through the large intestine, and then out in the stool. It takes snaps as it glides through digestive tract twice a second. The capsule transmits the images to a data recorder, which is worn on a belt around the patient's waist while going about his or her day as usual. The physician then transfers the stored data to a computer for processing and analysis the complete traversal takes around eight hours and after it has completed taking pictures it comes out of body as excreta
CONCLUSION
Using the scanning device is cheap because it's so small it doesn't require anesthesia and sedation, which increase the cost of the traditional procedure. The researchers are negotiating a contract to commercialize the technology. In the future they hope to not only take pictures, but also deliver treatments through the device, and to apply it to other diseases.Any screening method must have a low price to be cost-effective