Advanced Technology Exhibition Hall@TEPIA / SELF-PROPELLING CAPSULE ENDOSCOPE
The Advanced Technology Exhibition Hall @ TEPIA was established by Association for Technological Excellence Promoting Innovative Advances (TEPIA) in 1989. It is a venue in which visitors can learn about a variety of advanced technologies that are the pride of Japan. They can also learn about the role plastics play in these technologies. (For more information, see the February 2011 issue of the PR magazine pla-topia.) http://tepia.jp/exhibition/index.html
SELF-PROPELLING CAPSULE ENDOSCOPE
A camera and light are placed inside the capsule, which also incorporates a magnet. The capsule is swallowed and advances inside the body by moving small fins. The patient is placed in a large magnetic field generation unit, the capsule is guided and controlled to the areas that want to be imaged, and imaging them takes place. The fin material is a plastic material known as an elastomer that becomes soft at 60?C and hardens when cooled.
