Sep 28 2007
Doctors at University Hospital have a new way to look inside the body using a special camera that's helping diagnose patients faster and more accurately. In the Endoscopy Center at the hospital, gastroenterologists use special tools to reach deep inside the body.
Places like the bile ducts and pancreas are notoriously hard for doctors to reach and are difficult to visualize.
Conventional dye and X-ray images yield black and white pictures, which are challenging to follow.
"So we've been looking at the body in an indirect way. Rather than seeing things visually, we've been limited to seeing things in black and white and shadows," said Dr. Sandeep Patel, a gastroenterologist at University Hospital.
Using Boston Scientific's SpyGlass Direct Visualization System, Patel now has a way to look directly at these elusive body parts.
Using the system, patients can be screened for possible bile duct or pancreatic cancer, a killer if not caught early.
The technology uses a 6000-pixel fiber optic probe that provides detailed images. Doctors can take more precise biopsies for cancer or use lasers to break up stones under the guidance of the spyglass.
"It's a new frontier. You know, it really is. For the very first time, we're able to see areas that have been elusive," Patel said.
Over the last two months, doctors have used the new technology on nine patients at University Hospital.
University Hospital is one of 17 sites and the first hospital in South Texas to use the SpyGlass system.