Chongqing-The 2021 Capsule Endoscopy Global Summit (CEGS) was held in southwestern China’s Chongqing Municipality on November 20, joined by participants online and offline from 108 countries and regions.

Seventeen world-renowned experts on digestive medicine from China, the United Kingdom, France, and other countries shared their ideas at the CEGS themed on ‘Evidence of Clinical Practice,’ from the technical update of capsule endoscopy to clinical application.

Influenced by the pandemic, digital medical treatment has been catalyzed and accelerated, such as remote and contactless diagnosis, fully automated examination, artificial intelligence-assisted diagnosis. Smart medical equipment technologies and applications have developed rapidly. Doctors worldwide have proposed technological innovation needs for capsule endoscopy, doing clinical empirical research, making breakthroughs in scientific research, and promoting the technological revolution of capsule endoscopy.

Chongqing as the permanent site of CEGS

“Chongqing is the permanent site of the CEGS, which held on an annual basis has brought changes in the industrial developments,” said Wang Jinshan, chairman of Jinshan Science and Technology, a Chongqing local company.

Dr. Jean-Francois Rey, past president of the World Endoscopy Organization, has participated in the CEGS for the fourth time. “I think the summit is very important.” In his opinion, the summit is the only meeting dedicated to capsule endoscopy worldwide.

“Chongqing has a unique industrial advantage, close cooperation among many universities, hospitals and enterprises, as well as a good atmosphere of innovation,” said Yang Shiming, chairman of the Gastroenterology Branch of the Chongqing Medical Association and director of the Gastroenterology Department of the Xinqiao Hospital of Army Medical University (AMU).

This year marks the fourth edition of the CEGS. What’s new this year? The application can be a good answer. “Last year, we had a theme ‘The future is now’ where we discussed with experts and other speakers about all the future technologies and also the expectations from the positions and clinical professionals.” Liu Yaoxian, head of the international business department at Jinshan Science and Technology, said. “This year, the biggest highlight would be that all those future technologies we discussed in the last year, we are seeing there being applied in the clinical practice this year. So that’s why we use the same of this year’s summit as the evidence of clinical practice.” 

International cooperation on academic research

The first domestic capsule endoscope was born in Chongqing in 2004. At present, this capsule has developed several generations through continuous innovation.

The company chairman Wang Jinshan said, “Globally, only third-generation capsule endoscopy products are available on the market. The fourth-generation is the world’s first fully automatic capsule robot launched by our company this year brings about a series of revolutions.”

Moreover, a thesis as a result of international cooperation was published in The Lancet. The thesis entitled Fully automated magnetically controlled capsule endoscopy to examine the stomach and small bowel: a prospective, feasibility, two-center study was published online on September 20 this year.

“It’s a joint effort of Xinqiao Hospital of AMU, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, and Royal Edinburgh Hospital,” added Wang.

The integration of 5G and capsule endoscopy technology can be realizable for remote diagnosis and examination, separation of assessment and diagnosis, and no contact between doctors and patients by the fully-automatic capsule robot. In addition, a more intelligent, efficient, and comprehensive diagnosis of gastrointestinal diseases has also been unveiled at the summit.

In the future, the company will continue to enrich the functions of the capsule robot, carry out technological research and development orientated to improve display clarity, and implement treatment, to bring more convenient and faster diagnosis and treatment.