YOUR HEALTH: G.I. genius; Smart colonoscopy

NEW JERSEY (Ivanhoe Newswire) - Colorectal cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer in the United States. Because Americans have been getting colon cancer at a younger age, the recommended age for a colonoscopy has dropped in recent years from 50 to age 45. Now, new technology is detecting more potential cancers than ever before.

Twinique Wright celebrated her 49th birthday with family and friends knowing a milestone year was on the horizon. For Wright, it was past time to get the health screening she had been avoiding - a colonoscopy.

“Every time, I said, ‘Okay, well, I get it done next year or next year, next year.’ It’s four years later. So, I said, ‘No, I have to do it,’” Wright tells Ivanhoe.

Wright didn’t know when she scheduled her screening that doctors were using new technology, a smart tool called the G.I. Genius, which uses artificial intelligence during the procedure.

Hackensack University Medical Center’s Chief of Gastroenterology, Dr. Rosario Ligresti, MD explains, “It’s a box that actually interprets every image, every frame of the colonoscopy in real-time, and alerts the physician in real-time on the screen by a little green box at a little buzzer where it thinks there’s a polyp.

Then, the doctor inserts a tiny tool into the scope to remove any polyps.

“We know that the increase in adenoma detection rate, the increase of the ability of the doctor to find more polyps decreases the patient’s risk of getting colon cancer. By adding G.I. Genius, you’re increasing the adenoma detection rate by 14 percent,” Dr. Ligresti further explains.

Dr. Howard Ross, MD, a colon surgeon at the Hackensack University Medical Center, adds, “The additional tool doesn’t change the nature of the procedure for them. So, it’s not any harder. It doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t change what’s actually happening at colonoscopy.”

Wright’s doctors found nothing suspicious during her screening. For her, something else to celebrate.

“I feel at ease and I’m happy I did get it done and that just made it that much better,” she expresses.

The G.I. Genius was FDA-approved in 2021. Dr. Ligresti says the procedure with the new technology might be just a few minutes longer, but otherwise, there is absolutely no difference for the patient. The G.I. Genius is covered in the same way a screening colonoscopy is covered by insurance, so there’s no additional cost to the patient.

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