Egg Harbor Township, NJ - Thanks to Dr. John Santoro's foresight, AGA was the first practice nationwide to obtain the M2A™ Imaging System, and is still the only clinical practice in the tristate area to use this technology as a diagnostic tool.
On Wednesday November 7, 2001, AGA physicians were the first clinical practitioners in Southern New Jersey to use an ingestible, disposable capsule containing a miniature television camera to examine the lower intestinal track.
"We were very excited to be the first physician group in the country to order this specialized equipment and the first in Southern New Jersey to offer this diagnostic tool to our patients," AGA's Dr. John Santoro says." Atlantic Gastroenterology Associates prides itself on being at the forefront of technological advances as we were in 1998 with the introduction of a non-invasive breath test for direct detection and post-treatment monitoring of active H. pylori infection."
The capsule, about the size of the first joint on your pinky finger is swallowed and then moves through the intestinal tract by the natural contraction and relaxation of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, called peristalsis. Given® Imaging of Yoqneam, Israel, developed the 11x26mm pill that is formally known as the M2A™ Capsule. The capsule weighs about 4 grams and contains a light source, a miniature color video camera, batteries, a miniature transmitter, and an antenna.
After swallowing the capsule, the patient goes about their normal routine while wearing a Walkman-size recording device around the waist. The Given® Data Recorder processes the data downloaded from the pill into a short video film clip that is viewed at the physician's office the following day. A time code on the screen is synchronized with the video taken by the capsule. This provides important information as to the location of the findings relative to the start of the examination.
The M2A™ capsule will be used for patients who have had non-diagnostic conventional endoscopy. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave it's approval of the M2A™ in August, 2001 and noted that in a trial conducted in New York the Given® Imaging Diagnostic System detected physical abnormalities in 12 of 20 patients, or 60%, while push enteroscopy detected physical abnormalities in 7 of 20 patients, or 35%.