Medtronic partners with Amazon to bring the PillCam to your door
Medtronic — known for making complicated medical devices that often require a surgeon to implant them — is partnering with Amazon.com to deliver pill-sized cameras to patients' doorsteps. At home, the patient swallows the "PillCam," which then performs a video tour of the small intestine, collecting data along the way.
The distribution partnership, disclosed earlier this week, opens new opportunities for access to care — particularly in rural areas — and marks another strategic step by Amazon into the lucrative health business. Medtronic, which has its operational headquarters in Fridley, first secured emergency authorization for in-home use of its PillCam SB 3 Capsule Endoscopy System in August 2020 when the pandemic suppressed demand for, and access to, elective hospital procedures.
Giovanni Di Napoli, president of Medtronic's gastrointestinal business, said that the company had long planned to have more technology available for in-home use, but the pandemic kicked those initiatives into high gear. Medtronic's PillCam technology was also used in Europe to perform at-home colonoscopies during the pandemic. On Monday, Medtronic announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted the PillCam 510(k) clearance, allowing its continued use for at-home remote endoscopies.
A PillCam is exactly what it sounds like: a capsule with a camera inside. For now the PillCam endoscopy system is the only Medtronic device of its type available for home use.Medtronic's devices will be sold through both Amazon and Amazon Web Services, the company's cloud computing arm. Doctors are given unique user privileges on Amazon to order the PillCams, which can then be shipped directly to a patient's home. In addition to the capsule, patients receive a recorder which collects images from the pill camera. Amazon picks up the recorder and ships it to Medtronic to analyze the results.
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Dr. Jonathan Kirsch, an assistant professor of medicine who leads the Mobile Health Initiative at the University of Minnesota focused on rural Minnesota, said that one upside to the pandemic has been innovations in telehealth and other tools to expand access to care. "It's been quite an amazing process to see this. COVID really forced everybody to be creative in figuring out how to help people in need," said Kirsch. "I think one of the things that COVID has really highlighted is how you have to adapt."
https://www.startribune.com/medtronic-partners-with-amazon-to-bring-the-pillcam-to-your-door/600118661/
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