NEWS - Tiny endoscope images hard-to-reach areas

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Tiny endoscope images hard-to-reach areas

10/19/2006

By: Reuters Health

LONDON (Reuters), Oct 19 - Scientists have created a miniature endoscope

with a flexible probe about the size of a human hair that produces high

definition, three-dimensional images from inside the body.

The tiny tool can get to areas other endoscopes can't reach and could lead

to less invasive surgery and quicker recovery times, its developers said on

Wednesday.

" It's special because it is very flexible and it also gives much more

information. It gives three-dimensional information, " said Dr. Dvir Yelin,

of Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital in the U.S.

Bigger endoscopes produce high quality two-dimensional images but their size

limits their use. Smaller models get into more difficult areas but the

quality of the images they produce is not as good.

The minuscule endoscope described by Yelin and his team in the latest

edition of the journal Nature uses a technology called spectrally encoded

endoscopy (SEE) to get sharp images from the tiny instrument.

Inside view

Endoscopes, which were invented 50 years ago, enable doctors to see organs

inside the body. They can also be used to take small biopsies and to perform

less invasive surgery.

SEE uses multicolored light from a single optic fiber that acts like a probe

to produce an image of the tissue or organ. The fibre can pass through a

small needle and be inserted into the body.

" What is completely new is the ability to put diffraction grating on the tip

of that probe, " Yelin told Reuters.

Diffraction grating acts like a prism to send different wavelengths to

different directions.

" This is the enabling technology, " he said.

The scientists used the tiny endoscope to image ovarian cancer tumors in

mice. The probe was inserted into the abdominal cavity of the animals though

a fine-gauge needle. The images showed tiny details of the tumor, which were

confirmed when the tissue was analyzed by the researchers.

Other imaging devices such as ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging

don't give the same details, Yelin said.

Because the instrument is so small and flexible it could potentially be used

to probe areas such as the fallopian tubes, small ducts in the breast, and

other organs.

" This new technology will offer physicians and surgeons the capability to

bring many more procedures into outpatient settings, reduce anesthesia

requirements, and minimize tissue damage, " Guillermo Tearney, who helped to

develop the endoscope, said in a statement.

By Reaney

Last Updated: 2006-10-18 16:11:12 -0400 (Reuters Health)

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