A capsule-sized camera can be steered through the digestive system.

Another idea to a new Bond movie: A view to a Pill.

clipped from www.technologyreview.com Researchers in Germany have developed a magnetic device that can guide a camera inside the body. The remote control will enable doctors to conduct internal examinations of the stomach and esophagus, procedures that are currently done with an endoscope and are often uncomfortable, requiring local anesthetic and several hours of recovery time. Some of these discomforts may be avoided with the controllable pill camera "The doctor can hold it in his hand during the examination and move it up and down the patient's body. The camera inside follows this motion precisely." Roughly the same size as a multivitamin tablet, pill cameras, also known as capsule cameras, have been used for about five years. Once swallowed, the camera travels through the patient by taking advantage of peristalsis, the same involuntary muscular contractions that push food through the digestive system. During the process, the cameras transmit two to four images per second to a receiver worn on the patient's belt.