A new miniature microscope that travels inside the human body and finds cancer earlier, is establishing an Australian company as the world leader in a new discipline which it has virtually created on its own.
The new diagnostic discipline called Endomicroscopy is made possible by the miniature microscope invented by Melbourne based biotechnology company, OptiScan.
The OptiScan endomicroscope got the thumbs up at a meeting of the world’s leading gastroenterologists at International Endomicroscopy 2008.
At the Johns Hopkins Hospital in the US, the Director of Gastroenterology, Marcia Canto, has established one of four training centres around the world to teach doctors how to use endomicroscopes.
Says Canto, “In our trial treatment of Barrett’s Oesophagus (a pre-cancerous condition), we have found the endomicroscope to be highly accurate in detecting the disease, and the other studies show extraordinary consistency with our own.”
“Diagnostically this is almost as good as it gets and this is just the beginning of Endomicroscopy.”
The OptiScan invention is also being hailed as “the” technology for diagnosing gastrointestinal disease in children where its ability to provide “in vivo” diagnosis can save children two visits to the surgeon – one for a biopsy and then again later for treatment if required.
