Published online Aug 21, 2012. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v18.i31.4086
Revised: July 13, 2012
Accepted: July 18, 2012
Published online: August 21, 2012
To date, limited research has been carried out in developing methods and materials that offer three-dimensional (3-D) representation of the digestive tract. In the field of capsule endoscopy (CE), hardware approaches have been developed that provide real time both 3-D information and texture using an infrared projector and a complementary metal oxide semiconductor camera. The major drawbacks of this system are its size, power consumption and packaging issues. A software approach to approximate a 3-D representation of digestive tract surface utilising current CE technology has been proposed. The algorithm utilizes the Shape from Shading technique and seem to provide promising results for polypoid structures and angioectasias. Further clinical evaluation is currently under way.