Abstract: An encapsulated medical device is passed through the lumen of a body cavity in order to examine, cure, or treat an internal region of the body cavity under the control of the extracorporeal device. A capsule body has a linkage hole bored in the extended portion thereof so that when the capsule body comes into close contact with the internal surface of a body cavity to block the lumen thereof, the linkage hole will realize a fluid passage which allows a fluid such as a gas or humor to flow into the forward and backward parts of the lumen.

Abstract: A medical capsule is taken into the human body to collect biomedical information about the human body. When the medical capsule is discharged from within the human body, a medical capsule retrieval device detects the medical capsule using a magnet or a sensor, and catches the medical capsule with a net.

Abstract: A capsule medical apparatus inserted in the body cavity includes a spiral projected portion on the outer peripheral surface of a body cavity inserting portion. The pitch, height, and cross section of the projected portion and the like are set to have proper values and shapes suitable to the advance thereof. The body cavity inserting portion has a magnet. An external magnetic guiding device applies a rotating magnetic field to the magnet and the magnetic torque acts on a magnet for rotation. Thus, the medical apparatus stably advances.

Abstract: A capsule medical apparatus includes a needle driving unit that punctures an internal region of a subject with an injection needle and pulls out the injection needle from the internal region, a liquid injection unit that injects a liquid into the internal region through the injection needle, and a leak prevention unit that prevents the liquid that is injected into the internal region from leaking from the internal region.

Abstract: A lumen passability checking device includes: an outer structure having an external diameter substantially equal to that of a capsule medical device to be inserted into a body of a subject and having at least a part dissolved by a specific substance existing in a target organ within the subject; and a visually checkable identifier contained in the outer structure and discharged from the outer structure to inside of the body of the subject along dissolution of the outer structure.

Abstract: Using a guidance system with a simple configuration, propulsive motion along a longitudinal direction and changing of the propulsion direction are easily performed with good precision and stability. There is provided a capsule-type medical apparatus 201 which is inserted into the body of a subject and is guided by an external magnetic field, the capsule-type medical apparatus 201 comprising: a substantially cylindrical capsule 202; a propulsion mechanism 207 for converting rotary motion about a longitudinal axis R of the capsule 202 into propulsive motion along the longitudinal axis R; a magnet 205 accommodated inside the capsule 202 and disposed in such a manner that the magnetic-pole direction thereof can be switched between a direction along the longitudinal axis R and a direction intersecting the longitudinal axis R; and a securing portion 212 for securing the magnet 205 to the capsule 202 in each of the switched states of the magnetic-pole direction.

Abstract: A capsule casing is inserted into the living body, a thin-film substrate is cylindrically-shaped with approximately the same size of the inner surface of the casing and a coil for receiving an AC magnetic field is formed, and thus AC power is generated by the AC magnetic field from the outside of the living body with a small mounting space.

Abstract: A capsule guiding system includes: an electrode pad arranged outside a human body to perform human body communication with a capsule endoscope and detect at least one of position and direction of the capsule endoscope; a magnetically guiding device which moves the capsule endoscope; a detector which detects a relative position between the electrode pad and the magnetically guiding device; a calculator which calculates at least one of the position and direction of the capsule endoscope based on a detection value of the electrode pad, and calculates at least one of an absolute position and direction of the capsule endoscope with respect to the magnetically guiding device based on at least one of the position and direction of the capsule endoscope and the relative position detected by the detector; and a control unit which controls the magnetically guiding device based on at least one of the absolute position and direction.

Abstract: A capsule-type medical device comprises a capsule main unit having functions for being inserted into the body cavity and performing medical acts such as taking images or the like. The capsule main unit comprises therein a magnet which is acted upon by external magnetism, and a spiral portion on the outer perimeter, so that rotating force acting upon the magnet is readily converted into a propelling force for propelling the capsule-type medical device. A flexible insertion portion which is long and small in diameter is provided to the capsule main unit to allow smooth progression through the body cavity, and the center of gravity of the device is placed upon the longitudinal center axis of the capsule main unit, thus facilitating smooth progression through the body cavity.

Abstract: A capsule type medical device, including: a capsule shaped casing which can be ingested to within the living body; an electrical stimulation device which comprises a plurality of electrodes which are used for applying electrical stimuli to living body tissue; an electrode selection device which selects an electrode from among the plurality of electrodes, to apply an electrical stimulus; a contact detection device which electrically detects the electrode which is in contact with the living body tissue; and a control section which controls the various devices.

Abstract: An endoscope insertion assisting instrument 7 as an insertion assisting instrument for a medical device of the present invention comprises an elongated assisting instrument insertion portion 31 having flexibility for guiding an endoscope 2, which is the medical device, into a deep portion in an intracoelomic duct, a helical structure portion 33 provided on the outer circumference of the assisting instrument insertion portion 31, and a plurality of balloons 32 as locking portions for holding at least a part of the shape of the intracoelomic duct into which the endoscope 2 is inserted and for locking the assisting instrument insertion portion 31 in the intracoelomic duct.

Abstract: A capsule medical system is provided with a capsule medical device to be inserted into a subject, at least one electrode pad having a plurality of receiving electrodes, a receiving electrode switching unit, a control unit for controlling operations of the receiving electrode switching unit, and a position detector. The capsule medical device has a biological information acquiring unit for acquiring biological information of the subject, and a transmitting unit for outputting the biological information from a transmitting electrode through a living body. At least one electrode pad detects the biological information by a plurality of receiving electrodes. The receiving electrode switching unit switches a pair of receiving electrodes among the plurality of receiving electrodes. The position detector detects a position of the capsule medical device inside the subject based on the biological information detected by the electrode pad, and position coordinate data of the plurality of receiving electrodes.

Abstract: There is provided an in-vivo information acquisition apparatus capable of detecting high-accuracy in-vivo information substantially at the same time in a plurality of different examination sites in a body cavity and an in-vivo information acquisition apparatus system capable of introducing a plurality of in-vivo information acquisition apparatuses into a patient at the same time. The in-vivo information acquisition apparatus includes a specimen-collecting section for collecting a specimen at an examination site in a body cavity, a specimen-evaluating section for evaluating the specimen collected by the specimen-collecting section and outputting an evaluation result, a labeling section having identification information unique to the in-vivo information acquisition apparatus, a communication section for receiving a signal transmitted from the outside and for transmitting to the outside the evaluation result output by the specimen-evaluating section, and a power supply section for supplying electrical power.

Abstract: A battery self-containing body, which self-contains a battery or a battery accommodating body, which accommodates a battery removably is attached to a capsule body including a drive circuit for driving an imaging device and an illuminating device. Thus, the power supply can be turned ON easily. In addition, the inside portion is sealed water-tightly. Thus, the battery self-containing body or a battery can be exchanged easily, which allows the easy reuse. The direction of the visual field of the imaging device is diagonal with respect to the axis of the capsule body. Furthermore, spiral-shape projections are provided on the peripheral surface of the cylinder form. Thus, the rotation allows the surface of canal cavity wall to be examined easily.

Abstract: To stably and properly monitor an inside of a body by using an easily operable placement technique, a capsule endoscope 101 to be swallowed from an oral cavity 200 to acquire in-vivo information of a subject 201 and to wirelessly output for a transmission of the in-vivo information to an outside of a body, a string member 103 that is connected to the capsule endoscope 101 for positioning the capsule endoscope 101 at a gastric cardia 202, and a fixing portion 104 that is a portion of the string member 103, is provided on a position with which a length from the capsule endoscope 101 corresponds to a length from the gastric cardia 202 to the inside of an esophageal region 203 for fixing the string member 103 that has located the capsule endoscope 101 at the gastric cardia 202 to the inside of the esophageal region 203 by an endoscopic fixture are included.

Abstract: A capsule medical apparatus includes a reaction plane on which one or more kinds of reacting substance reacting with an internal substance in the body to be examined are fixed, wherein the reacting substance is chemical reacting substance or biochemical reacting substance, and an analyzer detects and analyzes the substance reacted with the reaction plane or a trace of the reaction outside of the body to be examined.

Abstract: A body-insertable apparatus that can reduce the apparatus size and perform projection operation of an injection needle in a power saving manner is provided. A body-insertable apparatus 1 according to the present invention has a balloon 4 for storing a medical fluid in a capsule-like casing 2, and an injection needle 5 including an elastic membrane 6. The body-insertable apparatus 1 discharges the medical fluid due to contraction of the balloon 4, applies a discharge pressure of the medical fluid to the elastic membrane 6 to expand the elastic membrane 6, and projects the injection needle 5 from the casing 2 due to the expansion of the elastic membrane 6. Further, the body-insertable apparatus 1 has a channel forming unit 11 for forming a channel 11a connecting to the balloon 4 and a channel 11b connecting to the injection needle 5, and a communication adjusting mechanism 12.

Abstract: An already-existing and general-purpose capsule endoscope for alimentary canal is enabled to be used to monitor a body cavity by directly diverting the already-existing and general-purpose capsule endoscope to a body-cavity-indwelling capsule endoscope in a simple and secure manner. An indwelling device for an encapsulated medical device of the invention includes a latching portion 203 which fixes a capsule endoscope 300 and a retaining unit 202 which mounts and retains a capsule endoscope 300. Therefore, the capsule endoscope 300 and the latching portion 203 are integral with each other only by mounting and retaining the capsule endoscope 300 to and in the retaining unit 202, and then the capsule endoscope 300 can be placed along with the latching portion 203 by setting the latching portion 203 to a desired region in the body cavity to fix the latching portion 203 to a body cavity tissue by endoscopic treatment.

Abstract: A body-insertable apparatus is introduced in a subject to perform at least one of input and output of a predetermined fluid to and from the subject. The body-insertable apparatus includes a reservoir (2) in which the predetermined fluid is stored; a first communicating channel (4) whose one end is opened to an inside of the reservoir, the first communicating channel (4) being extended in a predetermined direction; a second communicating channel (5) whose one end is opened to an outside space of the body-insertable apparatus, the second communicating channel (5) being extended in a direction substantially parallel to the first communicating channel (4), and the second communicating channel (5) partially running parallel to the first communicating channel (4); and a control mechanism (6) which controls a communication state between the first communicating channel (4) and the second communicating channel (5).

Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide a medical instrument insertion apparatus and a medical instrument insertion apparatus system in which an insertion unit can securely be propelled forward in a body cavity while stabilized by a simple mechanism. The medical instrument insertion apparatus includes a helical structure unit provided in a long and thin insertion unit (10), a retaining unit (30) which retains the insertion unit (10) along a predetermined axis direction while the retaining unit (30) can proceed and withdraw, and a rotation drive unit (20) which rotates the retaining unit (30) about the predetermined axis. Therefore, operability is improved in inserting the insertion unit (10), and the insertion unit (10) can securely be inserted into the body cavity while an operator does not require complicated operation or skill.