Woman with stomach pain: This image was purchased from Abobe Stock with a lifetime usage

A new type of endoscope to detect cancer earlier

Woman with stomach pain: This image was purchased from Abobe Stock with a lifetime usage

Woman with stomach pain

An endoscope is a flexible tube with a light and camera at the end that can be inserted into the digestive tract to look, for example, for signs of cancer.

The camera uses different colours (wavelengths) including infrared light, to reveal information that would otherwise be invisible.

However, it can be challenging to distinguish between normal and pre-cancerous tissue. New methods were therefore needed.

Researchers from the Departments of Physics and Gastroenterology worked together to develop a new endoscope, called a spectral endoscope, and tested this on patients with Barrett’s oesophagus and bowel polyps (which can turn cancerous).

We used a computing method called deep learning, to interpret the signals coming from the endoscope and present the results to the endoscopist carrying out the procedure.

This allows the clinician to see if the tissue is normal or possibly cancerous.

Spectral endoscopy can improve early cancer detection by guiding the endoscopist on where to biopsy and the area needing treatment, during the same endoscopy.

This could improve cancer outcomes from more effective treatment and save NHS money by reducing endoscopy procedures.

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