--- title: FDA Approves PillCam Colon for Colon Screening description: FDA approval of pill-sized camera clears way for less-painful option to screen the health of your colon canonical: https://time.com/6494/pillcam-colon-colonoscopy-cam-fda-approval/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-02-10T21:16:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T06:22:17.871Z article:section: Health og:title: FDA Approves PillCam Colon for Colon Screening og:description: FDA approval of pill-sized camera clears way for less-painful option to screen the health of your colon og:url: https://time.com/6494/pillcam-colon-colonoscopy-cam-fda-approval/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt51a810cad1ee725a/698682a955a859e314a7f68d/pillcam-colon.jpg?branch=production&width=600&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 600 og:image:height: 338 og:image:alt: pillcam-colon og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: FDA Approves PillCam Colon for Colon Screening twitter:description: FDA approval of pill-sized camera clears way for less-painful option to screen the health of your colon twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt51a810cad1ee725a/698682a955a859e314a7f68d/pillcam-colon.jpg?branch=production&width=600&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # A Colonoscopy Cam Is Coming to a Hospital Near You by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Feb 10, 2014 9:16 PM UTC  Given Imaging by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Feb 10, 2014 9:16 PM UTC The FDA gave a pill-sized camera that can replace colonoscopies the green light on Monday. The [PillCam Colon](http://www.givenimaging.com/en-us/Pages/default.aspx) from Given Imaging contains a battery-operated camera that, once swallowed, takes pictures of its journey through the body. The images are sent to a device the patient wears around the waist, and doctors can later review the photos, the Associated Press reports. The FDA approved the device for people who struggle with traditional colonoscopies, which typically consist of the doctor inserting a long and thin flexible tube with a small camera up through the large intestine. About 750,000 Americans are unable to complete their colonoscopy each year due to issues related to disease or anatomy, the AP reports. Here’s to less poking and prodding. \[[_AP_](http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US%5FGIVEN%5FIMAGING%5FFDA%5FAPPROVAL?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6494/pillcam-colon-colonoscopy-cam-fda-approval/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6494/pillcam-colon-colonoscopy-cam-fda-approval/"},"headline":"A Colonoscopy Cam Is Coming to a Hospital Near You","datePublished":"2014-02-10T21:16:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T06:22:17.871Z","description":"FDA approval of pill-sized camera clears way for less-painful option to screen the health of your colon","url":"https://time.com/6494/pillcam-colon-colonoscopy-cam-fda-approval/","keywords":["FDA"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt51a810cad1ee725a/698682a955a859e314a7f68d/pillcam-colon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt51a810cad1ee725a/698682a955a859e314a7f68d/pillcam-colon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"pillcam-colon","caption":"","creditText":"Given Imaging","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6494/pillcam-colon-colonoscopy-cam-fda-approval/","name":"A Colonoscopy Cam Is Coming to a Hospital Near You"}}]}] ```