Recent Developments in Colonoscopy November 11
Undergoing a colonoscopy is perhaps one of life’s greatest ironies, at least for those who need to go through them. It is reportedly (I could only go as far as write based on the experiences of others as told to me as I have not gone through the procedure myself) not the most comfortable of medical procedures to undergo, but its potential to save one’s life definitely places it in a rather important place on the screening procedure priority list.
Despite its potential, though, the colonoscopy as a procedure is still far from perfect. This is the reason why research and development towards improving the procedure is still ongoing. A feature on WebMD from before the end of this month, thankfully, shares good news: there have been improvements made to colonoscopy that will render the procedure even more effective than it previously was.
The news was revealed at a news briefing during the annual meeting of the American College of Gastroenterology in San Diego.
One of the improvements is the Third Eye Retroscope or TER, with its name presumably an allusion to its function of being sort of the doctor’s “third eye” into the column. The TER is actually “a disposable device that is passed through the instrument channel of a standard colonoscope” (we are quoting directly from the WebMD feature in order to accurately describe the device). It will provide doctors with the opportunity to have a better look at lesions that they may miss when using the standard screening equipment that is available to them.
High-definition colonoscopy will also lead to the detection of more lesions, when compared to the standard “white light” colonoscopy. The thing, though, is that not all machines are equipped with high definition yet. In time, old machines will be updated with new ones and high-definition will eventually become part of the mainstream.
Tags: colon cancer testing, colon health, colon testing, colonoscopy