As Israel Day is celebrated in the Israeli pavilion at Shanghai Expo on Thursday, one and another technology or invention is being showed in the seashell-like construction, telling people stories about how innovation makes our life better and also arousing people's curiosity: where do those creative ideas come from?

CAPSULE, MINI-CAMERA OR SPACE SHUTTLE

Among all the innovations shown in Israeli pavilion under the theme of "innovation for better life," a small "magic capsule" has caught all the eyes from the people.

Standing before a products exhibition window in the Israeli company of Given Imaging, Kevin Rubey, chief operating officer ( COO) of the world-leading capsule endoscopy firm, unveiled the secrets inside the PillCam capsule.

"The capsule is on one hand like a mini-camera, capturing images in human being body every time it flashes," Rubey described, tweaking the small, blinking capsule in one hand. "On the other hand, it is also like a miniature movie studio," producing movies about the mystery inside our bodies, he added.

In a nutshell, the PillCam capsule is a tiny endoscopy camera specially designed for human beings' gastrointestinal system. After the patient swallows the vitamin-sized capsule, PillCam can capture images of the gastrointestinal tract as it travels through the body.

The images will then be transferred into a data storing device, which later downloaded to a computer so that the physician can view them and make a diagnosis. The pill passes naturally with a bowel movement usually within 24 hours.

Before PillCam capsule endoscopy technology, invented by an electro-optical engineer who previously worked at an Israeli military manufacturer developing guided missile technology, came out, physicians had to use meters-long endoscopy devices to see inside the gastrointestinal tract, which was really an uncomfortable experience for the patients.

Another advantage of the PillCam compared with the traditional advices, in Rubey's words, is that the patient can resume daily activities once he or she swallows the video capsule, instead of lying on the sickbed with the long endoscopy device.

As the first capsule endoscopy technology introduced to the world, Rubey believed PillCam has saved tens of thousands people's lives from gastrointestinal diseases.

"They would not have survived, had the physicians not found what their problem was and being able to address it through an operation or whatever they did to fix it," the COO told Xinhua.

During a video conference call interview, Nachum Shamir, chief executive officer of Given Imaging, described the "next big thing" for the capsule.

He said that the scientists of his company are considering providing the PillCam with more abilities, such as reaching out a "hand" to collect samples in gastrointestinal parts, which makes the capsule like a mini-space shuttle in the body.

"I think it can not be better demonstrated than swallowing a small capsule that can save your life," he said.

LET THE COW TALK

Driving east from Given Imaging, with views out of the car's windows changing from industrial park to fields and gardens, people will arrive at another Israeli high-tech leader AfiMilk which, different from the Hollywood-mode future technology, focuses on the ancient industry of dairy farming.

The core innovative device invented by AfiMilk is the cow pedometer, which is an "ID certificate" of the cows and also a " dialogue interphone" between cows and dairymen. It can detect the physical conditions of the cow by measuring their daily walking steps.

"The Pedometer is a tag that has a couple of functions. The first one is ID. The second and most important thing is to tell about the behavior of the cow in two aspects -- heat detection and resting. These implicates are both about health problems and behavior problems that the cow had," said Hagai Flexer, Systems Group Manager of AfiMilk.

Besides Pedometer, the whole AfiMilk herd automation and management system includes I.D. System, Milk Meters and Afilab, the first device in the world that gives the components inside the milk products, such as fat, protein, glucose and somatic cells.

All the data collected by the automation devices will be transferred into the computer, then analyzed by software to tell dairymen the daily lives of the cows. In this sense, the dairymen would not any more stay in the cow paler for the whole day to " talk" with every cow. Instead of that, they will sit before the computer and read pages of charts and reports, then making decisions on the herd management.

In the eyes of Charles Zhou, the company's General Manager in China, the AfiMilk technologies have provided a better life for dairymen, cows and thus the common milk consumers. "AfiMilk system can help farm managers have a better management for the cow farms. And the cows from good management have a better life and a comfortable life and return us good raw milk," said Zhou, who then led a Chinese delegation visiting the company.

SOMETHING TO HAPPEN

PillCam capsule endoscopy, intelligent pedometer, advanced solar energy, people are asking what makes Israel and Israelis special in the field of innovation.

Yossi Shemer, president of AfiMilk, has a simple answer: open minds.

"We are a 62-year-old nation. We don't have tradition for hundreds of years of agriculture. We are open-minded to develop in house and adopt traditions in other countries. And altogether, especially to get out of the box and think different, makes us special in high-tech agriculture," said Shemer.

Investment in R&D research by private sector and government, reservoir of highly educated technological workforce, as well as education system also give Israel advantages in innovation. In Israeli schools, children are encouraged to ask questions and to think "out of the box."

As the embodiment of those advantages, a good many of Israel's innovative technologies are being showed in Shanghai Expo. The Israelis are also full of expectation over this world banquet.

"We expect visitors to come to this exhibition and to see our products and our ability to learn more, and to have an opened window for the new projects and for new customers, and even new ideas. So who knows? The world is big and we expect something to happen form this Expo," said Shemer.

(Source: Xinhua)