A new, more accurate way to identify pre-cancerous cells in the lining of the oesophagus uses a tiny light source and sensors at the end of an endoscope.
Acid reflux occurs when stomach acid splashes, or refluxes, up into the oesophagus.
Long periods of acid reflux can change the cells that line the oesophagus, making them appear more like intestinal cells than oesophageal cells.
These cellular changes can also be a precursor to cancer. As in most cancers, early identification of these pre-cancerous cells often leads to better outcomes for patients. Barrett's oesophagus afflicts more than one percent of the U.S. population, with most patients above the age of 50.
Developed by biomedical engineers at Duke University and successfully tested on patients during a clinical trial at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the device holds the promise of being a less invasive method for testing patients suspected of having Barrett's oesophagus, a change in the lining of the oesophagus due to acid reflux.
Using an endoscope to reach the oesophagus via the nose, physicians shine short bursts of this light at locations of suspected disease and sensors capture and analyze the light as it is reflected back. In particular, they are trying to spot characteristic changes within the layer of cells known as the epithelium, which line cavities and surfaces throughout the body, according to a Duke University press release.
“By interpreting the way the light scatters after we shine it at a location on the tissue surface, we can the spot the tell-tales signs of cells that are changing from their healthy, normal state to those that may become cancerous,” said Neil Terry, a Ph.D. student at Duke's Pratt School of Engineering.
“When we compared the findings from our system with an actual review by pathologists, we found they correlated in 86 percent of the samples.”
The team published their findings online in the January issue of the journal Gastroenterology
