The Nurse's Role in Capsule Endoscopy Reading

Capsule endoscopy (CE) is a non-invasive and wireless endoscopic technique in which a patient swallows an ingestible plastic capsule containing a miniature video camera and light source to visualize parts of the gastrointestinal tract. Since its introduction in 2001, it has become the gold standard for detecting diseases of the small bowel, such as Crohn’s disease and causes of obscure bleeding.

After it is swallowed, the capsule transmits approximately 55,000 images over the course of an eight-hour period (at a rate of two images per second) to a data recording device worn by the patient. The small bowel images are compiled into a streaming video, then downloaded to a computer where the video can be reviewed in order to make a diagnosis. Traditionally, the nurse’s role in capsule endoscopy procedures has been to prepare the patient with the application of a sensor array, administer the capsule and download the raw data of images, while the physician’s role has been to interpret the videos.¹