Rowlett, TX (March 3, 2009) – High-definition television (HDTV) is making its way from the living room to the hospital room. Now, Lake Pointe Medical Center introduces the HDTV technology as part of a new endoscope platform in their new state-of-the-art, four-suite Endoscopy Center. “Our new Endoscopy Center will provide our community state-of-the-art HDTV technology in the treatment and diagnosis of upper and lower gastrointestinal tract disease”, states Debbie Moeller, Chief Nursing Officer at Lake Pointe Medical Center. “The center allows our physicians to perform these procedures using state-of-the-art HDTV endoscopic cameras that enhance their ability to detect GI disease in its earliest stage, while minimizing procedure times for our patients. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths for men and women combined in the U.S. and our new center will assist our physicians and staff in identifying, treating and/or reducing the prevalence of these diseases in our community.” Compared to conventional systems, high-definition endoscopy, combined with Narrow Band ImagingTM, provides physicians with sharper images and better contrast, which in turn may help them to better detect lesions during examinations when using the wide-angle colonoscope. As a result, patients may receive more accurate diagnoses. The new system can also shorten procedure times for patients.
Dr. Paul Zopolsky, gastroenterologist, is one of the physicians at Lake Pointe Medical Center who already uses the new endoscope platform, delivering both HDTV and Narrow Band Imaging™ (NBI) technologies. Called EVIS EXERA II™, the 180 series from Olympus provides physicians with enhanced observation capabilities, and has been shown to reduce overall procedure time when used with a new wide-angle scope offered as part of the 180 series. “HDTV and NBI (Narrow Band Imaging) make it possible to more accurately identify lesions in the esophagus, stomach, and duodenum; and also enable us to find colon polyps, particularly flat polyps, at an early stage,” said Dr. Zopolsky. “We are especially proud of our new Endoscopy Center which has been designed not only for optimal patient care and comfort, but also ease of patient registration and subsequent discharge.”
The HDTV signal from the endoscope platform’s video processor is designed to produce an impressive 1080 lines of resolution, more than twice the number of scan lines used by conventional systems, offering physicians breathtaking images of the colon with a high level of detail and color. NBI is a new image processing technique which takes advantage of the scattering and absorption properties of human tissue, thereby improving visual contrast on mucosal surfaces during endoscopic observation of the GI tract. The result is remarkably clear views of anatomical structures and fine capillary patterns of colon surfaces, which are normally difficult to distinguish.
The American Cancer Society (ACS) reports that colon and rectal cancer killed 49,960 Americans in 2008. The ACS also points out that the 5-year survival rate for people whose CRC is treated in an early stage, before it has spread, is greater than 90%.
The ACS recommends that beginning at age 50, both men and women should be screened for colon and rectal cancer. People with CRC risk factors, such as a personal history of CRC or adenomatous polyps or a strong family history of CRC or polyps, should talk to their doctor about starting CRC screening earlier and/or undergoing screening more often.