Case - Endoscopy
Sources of Innovation
Getting an Inside Look: Given Imaging's Camera PiII 1
Gavriel Iddan was an electro-optical engineer at Israel's Rafael Armament Development Authority, the Israeli authority for development of weapons and mil of a guided itary technology. One of Iddan's projects was to develop the missile, which leads the missile to :t5 target In 1981, Iddan traveled to Boston on sabbatical to work for a company that produced X-ray tubes and ultrasonic probes. While there, he befriended a gastroenterologist (a pllysician who focuses on digestive diseases) named Eitan Scapa, During long conversations in which each would discuss his respective field, Scapa taught Iddan about the technologies used to view the interior lining of the digestive system. Scapa pointed out that the exist ing technologies had a nLlmber of significant limitations, particularly with respect to viewing the small intestine, The small Intestine is the locale of a number of seri ous disorders, In the United States alone, approximately 19 million people suffer from disorders in the small intestine (Including bleeding, Crohn's disease, celiac dis ease, chronic diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, and small bowel cancer)3 Furthermore, the nature of the smail intestine makes it a difficult place to diag nose and treat such disorders, The small intestine (or "small bowel") is about 5 to 6 meters long in a typical person and IS full of twists and turns, X-rays do not enable of the intestine, and endoscopes (small cameras the physician to the attached to long, thin, flexible poles) can reach only the first third of the small intes tine and can be quite uncomfortable for the patient The remaining option, surgery, is very Invasive and can bempractica l if the physician does not know which part of the small intestine IS affected, Scapa thus urged Iddan to try to come up with a bet ter way to view the small intestine, but at that time Iddan had no idea how to do it Ten years later, Iddan visited
Getting an Inside Look: Given Imaging's Camera PiII 1
Gavriel Iddan was an electro-optical engineer at Israel's Rafael Armament Development Authority, the Israeli authority for development of weapons and mil of a guided itary technology. One of Iddan's projects was to develop the missile, which leads the missile to :t5 target In 1981, Iddan traveled to Boston on sabbatical to work for a company that produced X-ray tubes and ultrasonic probes. While there, he befriended a gastroenterologist (a pllysician who focuses on digestive diseases) named Eitan Scapa, During long conversations in which each would discuss his respective field, Scapa taught Iddan about the technologies used to view the interior lining of the digestive system. Scapa pointed out that the exist ing technologies had a nLlmber of significant limitations, particularly with respect to viewing the small intestine, The small Intestine is the locale of a number of seri ous disorders, In the United States alone, approximately 19 million people suffer from disorders in the small intestine (Including bleeding, Crohn's disease, celiac dis ease, chronic diarrhea, irritable bowel syndrome, and small bowel cancer)3 Furthermore, the nature of the smail intestine makes it a difficult place to diag nose and treat such disorders, The small intestine (or "small bowel") is about 5 to 6 meters long in a typical person and IS full of twists and turns, X-rays do not enable of the intestine, and endoscopes (small cameras the physician to the attached to long, thin, flexible poles) can reach only the first third of the small intes tine and can be quite uncomfortable for the patient The remaining option, surgery, is very Invasive and can bempractica l if the physician does not know which part of the small intestine IS affected, Scapa thus urged Iddan to try to come up with a bet ter way to view the small intestine, but at that time Iddan had no idea how to do it Ten years later, Iddan visited