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Robotic Capsule To Crawl Through Intestines

Posted by timothy on from the now-that's-creepy dept.

gonzo_bozo writes "New Scientist has a story about a capsule that can be swallowed and will crawl through your intestines with tiny legs made of shape memory alloy."

44 comments

  1. Attempting to purge mental image... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...of an endoscopic suppository that crawls the other way.

    1. Re:Attempting to purge mental image... by stupidsocialscientis · · Score: 1

      So, assuming it exits your body the same way most things that we ingest leave our bodies, do the feet and legs simply fold under the pressure of the rectum and anus on the way out? If not, "squeezing one out" might not be the way to go for elimination. Nothing quite so satisfying as pooping a metal centipede.

      --
      Well, as far as Sig's go, Freud was a doozy.
  2. For those places... by Black+Parrot · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...your gerbil just can't reach.

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    1. Re:For those places... by TykeClone · · Score: 1

      Now Lemmiwinks is out of a job!

      --
      A fine is a tax you pay for doing wrong and a tax is a fine you pay for doing all right.
  3. This never gets old.. by WhatAmIDoingHere · · Score: 4, Funny

    I, for one, welcome our intestine crawling overlords.

    --
    Not a Twitter sockpuppet... but I wish I was.
    1. Re:This never gets old.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What crawled up your ass and died?!

  4. Excellent... by keiferb · · Score: 1, Troll

    Now all we need is a shrinkification ray so that we can climb into the tiny little capsule and crawl around in peoples' bodies.

  5. Alien invasion. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    "New Scientist has a story about a capsule that can be swallowed and will crawl through your intestines with tiny legs made of shape memory alloy."

    Will this inconviently burst through your chest?

    1. Re:Alien invasion. by dtfinch · · Score: 1

      Yes, but not before it mistakingly pushes through one of your already problematic stomach ulcers.

  6. limiwinks? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    They really should have come up with a good acronym for L.I.M.I.W.I.N.K.S.

  7. What crawled up YOUR ass?????? by Wisgary · · Score: 0

    A highly advanced capsule that walks along my intestines with tiny legs made out of shape memory alloy. Can't wait to use that one!

  8. In proper perspective, by BaltikaTroika · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Forget the tiny alloy legs, it's the 12kg razor-wire covered thorax that does the damage.

    BaltikaTroika

  9. Yet Another Attempt at Humor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    a story about a capsule that can be swallowed and will crawl through your intestines

    If that's what you're looking for, go eat a taco in Guadalajara. You'll pick up a tape worm that can do the exact same thing and for a hell of a lot less money.

  10. I'm the first beta tester... by NanoGator · · Score: 2, Funny

    ... and the first to ask "What crawled up your butt?" will get a knuckle sammich.

    --
    "Derp de derp."
    1. Re:I'm the first beta tester... by Rii · · Score: 0

      Okay, a few problems with that. It doesn't go that way. You swallow a pill. Second, the first tests are to be done on animals. RTFA.

    2. Re:I'm the first beta tester... by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Humans are animals. Read the fine dictionary. And eat my shorts. Trying to ruin a perfectly good joke is one of the few things worse than ruining your own joke.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  11. Robot Capsules for Life by Madcapjack · · Score: 1

    What it's called is a diet pill.

    --
    Logic, macros, and more
  12. Reminds me of...: by drakyri · · Score: 3, Funny

    The Magic School Bus!


    It had to be said....

    1. Re:Reminds me of...: by dtfinch · · Score: 1

      I remember that one.

  13. Re:Excellent... [ob Simpsons] by kooshvt · · Score: 1

    Unshrink you?! Well that would require some sort of a REbigulator, which is a concept so ridiculous it makes me want to laugh out loud and chortle.. but not at you O holiest of gods with the wrathfulness and the vengence and the bloodrain and the "hey hey hey it hurts me"

  14. In all seriousness, though... by amcox · · Score: 1

    ....how weird is that going to feel?

  15. Worries by Rii · · Score: 0

    It sounds great, but what if it gets stuck? You just went from a look-around to possible surgery? Or, are you going to look through every #2 until the prize comes out? Eeew.

    1. Re:Worries by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      I'm thinking that they're probably going to be disposable, and administered only in the hospital anyway.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:Worries by Patrik_AKA_RedX · · Score: 2, Funny
      I'm thinking that they're probably going to be disposable
      I *sure* hope so. Otherwise count me out...
  16. How useful could something like this be by KarmaOverDogma · · Score: 5, Interesting

    for supplanting or replacing a full intestinal exam to deal with things like Crohn's disease, spotting colon cancer early, and other ailments where early detection and/or prevention could save lives?.

    A lot, I hope

    .

    --
    uR iGn0ranc3, Their Power
    1. Re:How useful could something like this be by Zapper · · Score: 1

      I've got my hopes on this sort of thing eliminating the current method of prostate exams.

      --
      So much to do, so little bandwidth.
      --
      Try Mozilla
    2. Re:How useful could something like this be by mdielmann · · Score: 1

      On the other hand, this will be quite expensive, for two reasons.

      First, it's new technology, and the research will have to be paid back. This will go down in time.

      Second, the examination cost will have to pay for the therapy of seeing 30 feet of asshole. That can only go up over time...

      --
      Sure I'm paranoid, but am I paranoid enough?
    3. Re:How useful could something like this be by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They're currently using these cameras examine people who have IBD (inflamatory bowl disease). At Childrens hospital in Boston, there is a medical study to view recently diagnosed patient's intestines. The patient swallows the capsule which contains a camera, the camera takes pictures; 8 hours later the camera comes out, and thats the end of it.

  17. Two words by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Two words: Eeewww!! Eeeww!!

  18. It' a funding plea by DrSkwid · · Score: 2, Interesting


    The usual hype of "X to do Y" when X is nowhere nearly doing Y.

    I've had multiple anal endoscopes and they are f'kin painful so anything that can better that I will be happy about as I can look forward to more in the future
    (thanks Milk Marketing Board - see my sig).

    --
    There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
    1. Re:It' a funding plea by Detritus · · Score: 1

      You need better drugs. I had an endoscopy and colonoscopy in the hospital and I don't remember anything between getting an injection and waking up in the recovery room.

      --
      Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
    2. Re:It' a funding plea by DrSkwid · · Score: 1

      good luck with those general anaesthetics

      I'll keep the pain thanks, I'd rather be sure I was going to wake up

      --
      There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
    3. Re:It' a funding plea by Detritus · · Score: 1

      It wasn't a general anaesthetic. I was still conscious during the procedures. I just don't remember any of it. I believe they called it twilight anaesthesia.

      --
      Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
    4. Re:It' a funding plea by DrSkwid · · Score: 1

      oh, well thats a new one on me

      thanks

      I was sedated but not by enough apparently

      --
      There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
    5. Re:It' a funding plea by stupidsocialscientis · · Score: 1

      twilight is often a combination of valium and versed. the fun thing is when people are coming out and they are conscious, they are unable to form long-term memories, and thus ask things like, "what time is it? when i am i going in for the procedure?" and then ask the same thing 12 seconds later.

      --
      Well, as far as Sig's go, Freud was a doozy.
    6. Re:It' a funding plea by silicon+not+in+the+v · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I've had that twilight anesthesia when I had a broken wrist. It was stuck in a bent position and the doctor had to sort of "break" it loose so he could set it in the correct position to put the cast on. It was an interesting experience. Things get kind of fuzzy and dizzy and you don't really know or care much about what's going on around you, but you don't really go all the way out.

      I hadn't heard of the crawling pill yet. I had just heard about the Given Imaging pill that just gets pushed along by your normal intestinal movement while filming and transmiting video.

      And don't worry about the link--even though we are discussing items emerging from the GI tract, this is a goatse-free post.

      --
      We may experience some slight turbulence and then...explode. -Capt. Mal Reynolds
  19. The war on drugs. by tod_miller · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Paste a picture of gaosty next to a picture of this robot on CNN [wow, goasty on CNN, /. contribution to society!], looking like something off the Matrix... and I bet people will think thrice before smuggling something up thier ass again!

    *thinks about human nature*

    Hmmm this might *increase* anal drug traffiking, remember kids, you don't know where that has been, think before you smoke, ingest, inject it!

    I guess it will have to run linux, and have wifi and bluetooth, I just do not want to see any hobbiest sites spawned from this!!!!

    Next on engadget.com - anal robot probe, DIY with off the shelf components!

    Next week - I anal probe my dog! Life video feed and anal probe has own blog!

    --
    #hostfile 0.0.0.0 primidi.com 0.0.0.0 www.primidi.com 0.0.0.0 radio.weblogs.com
  20. On a serious note by tod_miller · · Score: 3, Interesting

    They use the memory of the material to manipulate the legs back in locomotion. Originally the cameras used the bodies own peristalsis to move down.

    Why not mimic this in the campsule, and have 4 coated tracks that create a surface 'catapillar' type wave and propells it along.

    4 of them means you can turn it and keep it guided.

    This might be safer and not have any sharp edges.

    *prays to god of ascii art that this works*

    __n__n__n
    (_________\

    _n__n__n_
    (_________\

    n__n__n__
    (_________\

    Where n is the rib on the track that deforms the rubber seals.

    These guys must find it hard to pick up chicks - so what do you do? I design things that burrow into your intestines [or more /. - burrow up your ass].

    mmmm maybe that approach would work on some women!

    --
    #hostfile 0.0.0.0 primidi.com 0.0.0.0 www.primidi.com 0.0.0.0 radio.weblogs.com
  21. overlords? by khanyisa · · Score: 1

    Shouldn't that be insidelords?

  22. Test subjects by Rufus88 · · Score: 1

    Testing was accomplished using contestants on "Fear Factor".

  23. this could have such evil applications.... by rubberbando · · Score: 1

    It would be like something out of a movie. An evil organization could insert these things into its members or just about anyone they wanted to keep under control with the threat of the device killing them if they do not coorporate.

    Just a thought...

    --
    DEAD DEAD DEAD DELETE ME
    1. Re:this could have such evil applications.... by silicon+not+in+the+v · · Score: 1
      An evil organization could insert these things into its members...
      OWW, geez, and I thought the intestinal application of this sounded painful.
      --
      We may experience some slight turbulence and then...explode. -Capt. Mal Reynolds