Gavriel Iddan is an Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

i electro-optical engineer

Engineer

An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality,...

 and the inventor of wireless capsule endoscopy. Initially at RAFAEL Armament Development Authority

RAFAEL Armament Development Authority

Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. , known as RAFAEL or Rafael, is an Israeli defense technology company...

 working on guided missile

Guided Missile

Guided Missile is a London based independent record label set up by Paul Kearney in 1994.Guided Missile has always focused on 'the underground', preferring to put out a steady flow of releases and developing the numerous GM events around London and beyond....

 technology, Iddan got the idea for an endoscopic capsule while on sabbatical

Sabbatical year

Sabbatical or a sabbatical is a rest from work, or a hiatus, often lasting from two months to a year. The concept of sabbatical has a source in shmita, described several places in the Bible...

 in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

 from a neighbour of his, an Israeli gastroenterologist

Gastroenterology

Gastroenterology is the branch of medicine whereby the digestive system and its disorders are studied. The name is a combination of three Ancient Greek words gaster , enteron , and logos...

 suffering from undiagnosed stomach pain. After working on the idea for almost twenty years, he successfully created a prototype

Prototype

A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...

 in 1998 – a disposable pill-sized camera that passes straight through the digestive tract, continuously broadcasting to an external receiver.Iddan's invention was approved by the FDA

Food and Drug Administration

The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...

in 2001.Gavriel Iddan is the father of Roy Paul Iddan an Israeli illustrator and animator.