Given Imaging Ltd. (Nasdaq: GIVN; TASE: GIVN) is the final development stages of a new product: an remote-controlled endoscopic capsule that can move both forward and backwards in the small intestine. Given Imaging president and CEO Gavriel Meron will unveil the new product next week at the Israel Innovation Summit in Haifa.
Meron said, “We’ve previously said that our primary goal was to conquer the preliminary digestive tract diagnostic market. After we win this market, we’ll develop products for treating the digestive tract. Today, we’re demonstrating the technological capabilities on which we will build various kinds of treatment products. This will happen over a few years, after we complete the launch of our two latest diagnostic products - a product for the small intestine, and a product for the stomach.”
“Globes”: Why does a capsule need the ability for remote-controlled movement forwards and backwards?
Meron: “The idea is to save as much time as possible for doctors. The patient swallows the capsule, and at the estimated time of arrival where the treatment is due to be carried out, the patient enters the clinic. The doctor checks where the capsule has reached, and if it’s traveled too far, he can direct it back, and if the capsule hasn’t traveled far enough, the doctor can move it forward.”
What about up and down and sideways movements?
“This capsule is designed for the small intestine, which is long and narrow. The only relevant movement is forwards or backwards.”
How does it work?
“The capsule has electrodes at either end, which send a small current to the digestive muscles of the small intestine. When a current is sent from the rear of the capsule, the muscles behind it contract, driving it forward. The opposite happens when the electrode at the front of the capsule is activated. We basically exploit the natural movement of the small intestine to control the capsule - an idea that in retrospect seems simple, but I think is ingenious. Dr. Paul Swain of the London Royal College Hospital, who has worked with us from the beginning, was the first person to swallow our capsule.”
What treatments can be carried out using this capsule?
“A variety of treatments. If there’s bleeding, for example, the capsule can be used to heat the location to stop the bleeding. If you want to conduct a biopsy, the capsule can deliver a needle to the relevant spot in the intestine.”
Are there competitors in the world with similar products?
“Generally speaking, we have no direct competitors in the field of endoscopic cameras. Olympus Corp. (TSE: 7733; DAX: OLY; Pink Sheets: OCPNY) recently announced that it wants to enter this field, but if it develops a product similar to the one we’re presenting at the conference, we don’t know about it. That’s a sign that in the worst-case scenario, there’s a product in the very early development stages, whereas our product has already been tested on humans.”
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on March 30, 2006
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