GPs could soon offer patients a ten-minute scan to check for serious bowel conditions during a routine appointment.
The wearable device can help doctors detect early problems such as ulcerative colitis, a painful disease that causes ulcers in the colon, and even cancers.
If something sinister is detected, patients can be rushed to treatment, or if nothing serious is found, they can be reassured immediately.
It could mean that patients who visit their GP with bleeding, changes in bowel habits and abdominal discomfort avoid the long wait for a colonoscopy, which requires sedation and must be carried out in a hospital or specialist unit.
Currently, this is the only way to detect or rule out serious intestinal disease.
The new device, called LumenEye, consists of a small disposable probe, about 8 inches long, with a high-definition camera on the end.
It looks at only the lower part of the colon, while a colonoscopy uses a long, flexible tube and camera to examine the entire large intestine.
LumenEye images are displayed in real time on a screen. Both come in a small case, which means they’re easy to transport and store, and undergoing this scan is painless and doesn’t require anesthesia.
LOOKING: A probe with a camera can detect suspicious-looking tissue in the colon in real time
Colorectal surgeon James Kinross, who specializes in bowel cancer treatments at Imperial College London, said: “If a patient has worrying symptoms and a physical examination cannot determine an obvious cause, GPs tend to refer you for a colonoscopy It means that these services deal with everything from relatively benign problems like hemorrhoids to more serious things, and they are completely overburdened.
“This technology won’t replace colonoscopies, but it will help GPs work out exactly who should be sent for further testing and who shouldn’t.”
The LumenEye is already used in more than a dozen NHS hospitals to monitor patients with ulcerative colitis.
But now there is some evidence that it could be used to help diagnose other conditions. In a study conducted at Imperial College London, 130 patients were tested for symptoms such as bleeding or changes in bowel habits, which could indicate cancer or other bowel disease.
It was an accurate way to spot problems that required further investigation and weed out those that didn’t, the experts found. During the trial, four cases of bowel cancer were detected.
Dr Tanveer Ahmed, GP at Blackburn’s Shifa Surgery, has been trialling the device to help tackle the nine-month wait for a colonoscopy in his area.
He said: “Before, if a patient had bleeding, we could look to see if anything was visible externally or do an exam with a finger. The LumenEye allows us to see inside the rectum in real time. The procedure takes ten minutes like to the max and it’s very easy to do.
“If we have any questions, a consultant can also log in and watch the video and provide an opinion. This means we can now put many more patients’ minds at ease and give them the reassurance that there is nothing serious about worry”.
One Blackburn patient who has benefited from LumenEye at her GP surgery is Sarah Guildford, 29, who has Crohn’s disease. The condition is similar to ulcerative colitis, but can cause ulceration and inflammation throughout the entire digestive tract.
Sarah, a married mother of two, was diagnosed in December 2020, after suffering six months of debilitating cramps, pain and distressing digestive symptoms.
She said: “I was given over-the-counter painkillers and told I would need a colonoscopy before they could change my medication. I’ve been on the waiting list ever since, and my symptoms were so bad at times I “All I could do was lie down.”
She was offered the LumenEye procedure at Shifa Surgery in April. “It took about ten minutes and I went home straight away,” he added. “My GP sent the video to a consultant and they agreed to prescribe stronger medication.
“We’ve repeated the process twice. I couldn’t recommend more strongly that other GPs start offering their patients this option.”
Weird Science: Cocktail That Burns You Like a Molotov
Doctors have warned that mixing a margarita cocktail (pictured) in the sun could cause second-degree burns.
Mixing a margarita cocktail in the sun could lead to second-degree burns and a trip to the hospital, doctors warn.
The drink, made with tequila and triple sec, contains a somewhat surprising key ingredient that can pose a health hazard: lime juice.
Molecules in citrus fruits can react with sunlight to cause burning of the skin, phytophotodermatitis, also known as Margarita cream.
One case, in The Journal Of The American Board of Family Medicine, details a 26-year-old woman who cut 24 limes for a pool party.
Within hours she developed painful red rashes that required hospital treatment.
Your amazing body
A human thigh bone is strong enough to support the weight of an elephant.
The femur, the longest and strongest bone in the body, connects the hips to the knees and is so strong that it must support most of a person’s weight.
And a 2002 study by the American Anatomical Association concluded that an adult male femur could support approximately 6,000 pounds (2,700 kg).
The second strongest are the temporal bones, located at the base of the skull, which protect some of the most crucial parts of the brain.