Medical Technology - Tiny Scope

Tiny Endoscope Images Hard-To-Reach Areas

Reuters

LONDON - 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 United
States.

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 fibre
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.