[Guest]

I recently heard that an endoscopy replacement is being studied. The way it works, you consume an imaging agent with your food, which then makes your food an imaging agent to pretty accuratly image the morphology of the GI tract! Hope it gets deployed soon!

 

[moldie]

Sounds like it would be much more comfortable. I wonder what's in the imaging substance.------------------[This message has been edited by moldie (edited 09-20-1999).]

 

[Guest]

I heard about it on Dr. Dean Edell's show last week and he did mention what the imaging agent was, but I forget. I'll check his website because he posts most of his topics up there by the end of the day.

 

[phyllisfin]

Sounds good and interesting. Now the next thing we need is for someone to come up witha nicer, better replacement for the infamouscolonoscopy. Now, that I would like.

 

[zigmissus]

Actually, I've heard that as ultrasound gets more and more sensitive, it may eventually be used to replace colonoscopy. Wouldn't that be great?

 

[flux]

As far as this description is concerned, it sounds fishy because the goal is to view the surface of the colon and to do that the colon must be cleaned out. Putting food in there makes no sense to accomplish this. In addition, you�d have to hang around the hospital for a couple of days depending on your transit rate.Ultrasound to replace colonscopy also sounds fishy because ultrasound has trouble viewing lumens that contain gas and you still have to be cleaned out.I know there are some people experimenting with a technique called virtual colonoscopy. It involves using barium and a spiral CT scanner. However, the prep is still needed and the procedure is probably intended to be for screening for colon cancer. Perhaps you heard about this. If you get the details, please post.

 

[Guest]

Well, it turns out you were right Flux! I found the article, and it wasn't exactly what I thought. Here's a little clip, with a link to the full article below. There wasn't any mention of what the imaging agent was in the article, although he named it on the air. I could go to his web site and listen to the Real Audio archieve, but I guess it's kind of a mute point now ------------ New Colon Test Eliminates The EnemaSeptember 16, 1999There�s a clever new technique that might get more people to be screened for colon cancer. While colon cancer is one of our deadliest diseases, most people avoid undergoing screening because they don�t like getting an enema, which cleans the bowels so polyps can be spotted on imaging equipment. The newest method involves "tagging" fecal matter in conjunction with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) so the polyps can be readily distinguished from stools in a colonography exam. ----clip---- http://www.healthcentral.com/drdean/DeanFu...cs.cfm?ID=16924 2

 

[flux]

Well, actually, this technique does allow the bowel to be visualized without cleansing, although its diagnostic value is limited.(I imagine the imaging agent is probably some metallic compound that is set to same �spin� frequency as the radio frequency of the MRI.)

 

[Guest]

There are worse things than enemas. The gallon of goop you drink for pre-colonoscopy prep has ruined Gatoraide for me forever. I was foolish enough to select the cherry flavored brew...and whew no more cherry anything for me. Just remembering the taste of that junk nearly illicts the "yuck dance" from me. Phooohey.