Visualization System Helps Position Colonoscopes

A new visual aid provides physicians and surgeons with a real-time three-dimensional (3D) visualization of colonoscope position and configuration.

The ScopeGuide system is designed to assist physicians, colorectal surgeons, and nurses during a colonoscopy to visualize the colonoscope as it travels through the colon. The system employs magnetic endoscopic imaging (MEI) to produce a three-dimensional view of the scope and its location within the colon in real-time. A number of small electromagnetic transmission coils located within the colonoscope itself generate a weak magnetic field, which is picked up by the ScopeGuide receiver. The received signals allow the ScopeGuide processor to calculate the location and orientation of each transmission coil, which is used to generate the 3D rendering of the scope, displayed on a screen. A separate handheld 3D marker helps an assistant to visualize where abdominal pressure will be most effective.


The ScopeGuide 3D visualization allows the endoscopist to see loop formations as they are occurring for quicker correction, and thus offers more effective loop management. It can also assist with scope insertion and help optimize scope handling, which may shorten procedure times and minimize patient discomfort, even during difficult colonoscopies. The ScopeGuide system is a product of Olympus (Tokyo, Japan), and has received the European Community (CE) mark of approval.

"Using ScopeGuide gives an instant overview of colonoscope insertion - so the endoscopist has anatomic certainty, the confidence of knowing exactly what is happening, and can optimize each situation and procedure," said Christopher Williams, MD, an honorary physician at St. Mark's Hospital (London, United Kingdom).

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