Smallest Disposable Diagnostic Video Camera Developed

A disposable video camera measures only 700 µ x 700 µ. The tiny camera will be used with disposable endoscopes for diagnostics and for other medical and surgical purposes.

Medigus (Omer, Israel) and Tower Semiconductor (Migdal Ha'Emek, Israel) are collaborating on the development of the video camera. Medigus has expertise in the miniaturization of diagnostic and surgical tools and Tower is a specialty semiconductor manufacturer and image sensor provider. The companies expect to lower the cost of diagnostic procedures, and to improve curative treatments in fast-growing market segments such as gastroenterology, natural orifice transluminal endoscopy surgery, bronchoscopy, orthopedics, and ear, nose, and throat (ENT).

Medigus developed the miniature electronics and objective lenses, and its casing is 1.2-mm wide by 5-mm long. Tower will produce the camera sensors using its 0.18-µ complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor process. Medigus will manufacture the endoscopes at its facility in Omer, outside Beersheba (Israel). Because the camera is disposable, there is no need for costly sterilization.

Medigus CEO Dr. Elazar Sonnenschein said, "The new camera and its unique imager represent a dramatic breakthrough in the endoscopic medical field; it opens a wide hatch to new markets, medical applications, and customers, and at the smallest size ever accessible, it will allow procedures not previously achievable.”

The first samples have been distributed, and mass production is expected to begin by mid-2010.

Related Links:
Medigus
Tower Semiconductor