Advances In Colonoscopies Improve Colon Polyp Detection Rates

Colonoscopies are the preferred method of screening for colon cancer because of their ability to detect and remove precancerous colon polyps in the same sitting. Now, thanks to new technology and the Third Eye Retroscope, colonoscopies will be even more effective in finding polyps.

During a typical colonoscopy, a flexible, lighted colonoscope is guided through the bends of the colon. However, because of the colonoscope’s nature, a doctor is only able to see what’s ahead, leaving plenty of blind spots behind the colonoscope where polyps can hide. The Third Eye Retroscope serves as a supplement to the colonoscope, giving a simultaneous retrograde view of the colon.

The Retroscope is an extendable and bendable device passed through the colonoscope and extended past the tip. The Retroscope then turns 180 degrees and faces backwards toward the tip of the colonoscope, allowing a doctor to see forward with the colonoscope and backward with the Retroscope. According to mid-Michigan’s WJRT, colonoscopes alone can miss 12-24 percent of polyps, while the FDA-approved Retroscope improves polyp detection rates by 25 percent.

A colonoscopy is still performed in the usual manner when a Third Eye Retroscope is utilized. Colonoscopies are suggested for people age 50 and older. To find a screening center near you, click here.