Opinion Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Aug 14, 2019; 25(30): 4051-4060
Published online Aug 14, 2019. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v25.i30.4051
Miniature gastrointestinal endoscopy: Now and the future
John J McGoran, Mark E McAlindon, Prasad G Iyer, Eric J Seibel, Rehan Haidry, Laurence B Lovat, Sarmed S Sami
John J McGoran, Digestive Diseases Centre, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester LE1 5WW, United Kingdom
Mark E McAlindon, Department of Gastroenterology, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, Sheffield S10 2JF, United Kingdom
Prasad G Iyer, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Mayo Clinic Rochester, MN 55905, United States
Eric J Seibel, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Washington, 4000 Mason St, Seattle, WA 98195, United States
Rehan Haidry, Laurence B Lovat, Sarmed S Sami, Division of Surgery and Interventional Science, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, United Kingdom
Author contributions: McGoran JJ and Sami SS wrote the paper; McAlindon ME, Iyer PG, Seibel E, Haidry R and Lovat LB reviewed the manuscript and provided feedback.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Iyer PG has received research funding from Exact Sciences, Pentax Medical, Intromedic, Nine Point Medical, Symple Surgical, Medtronic and has acted as a consultant for Pentax Medical, Medtronic; Seibel EJ has a patent US# 10080484, 7813538 with royalties paid to VerAvanti, Inc, a patent US# 9872613, 9161684, 7530948 with royalties paid to NinePoint Medical, a patent US # 9872606, 9561078, 8537203, 7791009, 7616986, 7583872 with royalties paid to VerAvanti, Inc., a patent US# 9226687, 8840566, 8382662, 7901348 with royalties paid to Intuitive Surgical, and a patent US# 7068878, 6959130, 6845190, 6856712, 6975898, 6563105, 6294775 with royalties paid to VerAvanti, Inc; Haidry R has received educational grants to support research from Medtronic Ltd., Cook Endoscopy (fellowship support), Pentax Europe, C2 Therapeutics, Beamline diagnostics, Fractyl Ltd; Lovat LB has received research funding from Pentax Europe and Medtronic.
Open-Access: This is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: John J McGoran, BM BCh, MRCP, MSc, Doctor, Research Fellow, Digestive Diseases Centre, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Infirmary Square, Leicester LE1 5WW, United Kingdom. jmcgoran01@qub.ac.uk
Telephone: +44-300-3031573
Received: March 21, 2019
Peer-review started: March 21, 2019
First decision: May 24, 2019
Revised: June 22, 2019
Accepted: July 1, 2019
Article in press: July 3, 2019
Published online: August 14, 2019
Core Tip

Core tip: Miniature endoscopic devices play a growing role in the practice of gastroenterology and can come in many forms. They can offer easier access to the gastrointestinal tract, are often tolerated better than standard endoscopy and have the potential to boost diagnostic accuracy. Those properties give promise to advancements in therapeutic intervention and to screening for luminal disorders. Pitfalls remain, particularly with regard to cost, but the trend towards the application of miniature gastrointestinal endoscopy is clear and justifiable.