Speech by Mr. Teddric Jon Mohr, President & CEO of Penang Adventist Hospital

I am pleased to annouce new service "Pill Cam" Capsule Endoscopy which is currently available at the hospital's Gastro Intestinal Lab. We have acquired the 1st equipment purchased in Malaysia. Painless visualization of the entire small bowel.

Since its introduction over 4 decades ago, flexible fiberoptic endoscopy has become an indispensable tool for the diagnosis of a wide variety of gastrointestinal disorders.

A major limitation of current endoscopy procedures is the inability to evaluate small bowel disorders beyong the range of currently available endoscopes. Sometimes it necessitates abdominal laparotomy pr laparoscopy.

The recent development of wireless video endoscopy using a capsule provides the opportunity to evaluate the entire small bowel in a completely non-invasive manner.

All the video capsule studies were well tolerated, without any adverse event. Results of premilinary study confirm the high diagnostic accuracy of this extraordinary, novel diagnostic technique.

Capsule endoscopy is highly innovative both from the technological and the clinical standpoint since it provides non invasive visualization of areas of the small bowel that are not easily accessible using wired endoscopy.

Capsule endoscopy opens up new horizons for the diagnosis of small bowel tumours.