Pill cams and at-home fecal calprotectin tests: is technology changing the way we help IBD patients?

I find the strives we are making in technology and healthcare really fascinating. You might have read my previous posts about how the diagnosis procedure for coeliac disease is changing. Recently, I’ve been invited in September for my first-ever pill study; a new way to support IBD patients that is all down to technology so today I thought I’d chat about all of these scientific breakthroughs.

AD-This is a sponsored post with Industrial Vision Systems who have asked me to write about how technological advances could benefit chronic illness patients like me-something I think is a really cool topic!

How can technology improve the life of patients like me with IBD?

Getting an IBD diagnosis can be really difficult (I should know, it took me 12 years!) but the technology in healthcare has progressed so much that technology is making it easier for IBD patients to keep on top of their conditions.

Currently, I have regular faecal Calprotectin tests which involve having to take my stool sample physically to the hospital (a good drive away), hand it over then wait weeks for the results (as we know, a lot can happen in a few weeks with IBD). However, in some NHS areas, patients are being given Calprotectin Home Tests which is really fascinating.

Through a system called IBD at home (more info here) patients can do calprotectin tests in the comfort of their own home and… how cool is this, get their results via their smartphone within 12 minutes! This means they can keep on top of things and flares much more regularly and report these findings to their IBD team.

The development of the pill camera with IBD patients

Another way that technology is helping people with IBD Is the development of a pill cam. Now, since a lot of my crohn’s is in the small bowel and terminal ileum, it is more visible in an MRI than a colonoscopy.

But a pill study can be a way to see which areas have been missed. A pill study involves swallowing a pill that actually contains a tiny camera, which then activates and takes lots of pics inside your small bowel! It’s very clever and this advancement has made it a better alternative to much more invasive tests. I’ll report back when I’ve had my first pill study to let you know how it compares to traditional IBD testing and if it’s beneficial for me.

How technology is helping other areas of health, like COVID-19

Technology is helping all areas of healthcare; including IBD and digestive diseases but also current problems like COVID-19. Whilst we hear a lot about the human effort in fighting this condition (which is of course important) artificial intelligence is also doing so much too: such as processing the lung scans of COVID-19 patients to see the potential effects of the disease. There’s lots of technology involved( click here for more info) and using sophisticated artifical intelligence-which even includes things like robots-can help with the creation of vaccinations and keeping patients safe.

How technology is keeping those of us who are high risk/shiedling safe too

A.I is also keeping those of us who are high risk (I am moderately risk due to Azathioprine but some people with Crohn’s are high risk) because of things like machine vision: this means that thermal imaging at airports and other large spaces can help with things like temperature checks.

This is something that will get more and more of a regular sight as the week’s go on!

Let me know if you’ve noticed technlogy has changed the way your chronic illness monitoring has changed over the last few years? I’d love to hear how it has changed for you and your condition too.