It’s also assisting in reducing the costs of unnecessary investigations into benign disease and taking the pressure off over stretched endoscopy departments.
One Laurieston woman who took part in a trial of the LumenEye, a digital rectoscope, was delighted to get the good news straight after the examination from her GP that her symptoms weren’t cancer.
Linda Stuart, 50, had suffered for some time with the stomach cramps and when she visited her GP at Parkhill practice in Polmont was offered the chance to have the new examination rather than waiting to be referred to Forth Valley Royal Hospital for an endoscopy.
The administrator with Link Housing said: “It was very quick, easy and pain-free.
“It was a huge relief to be told it wasn’t cancer. I’ve been described tablets and they are now helping.
“I realised I had to take action after suffering for a long time but the pains in my stomach became progressively worse. I had to always be near the toilet which was a nightmare and there was blood from time to time. It affected my day-to-day life as I felt bloated most of the time and had pains in my stomach.”
The LumenEye gave her doctor digital images inside her bowel and Linda’s GP was able to diagnose her with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and minor piles.
A follow up scan took place within a few weeks and she is now on medication.
A feasibility study of the new equipment took place across the UK involving 11 health authorities, including NHS Forth Valley.
The hand-held endoscopy device and software can be set up in the doctor’s office, operated by a single doctor and comfortably used without sedation or overnight bowel prep with oral laxatives.
Following the success of trials at NHS Forth Valley, LumenEye is now in routine use in the Endoscopy Unit at FVRH in Larbert and plans to offer the new diagnostic service at a number of local GP practices in the area are also being explored.
Mr John Camilleri-Brennan, Consultant General and Colorectal Surgeon, who provided the initial training on how to use the probe said: “This study has certainly highlighted the importance of close collaboration between primary and secondary care in the management of patients with bowel symptoms. The new LumenEye device is much more comfortable for the patient and it is quicker and easier to carry out.
“It has the potential to reduce the number of patients who require a colonoscopy and help reduce waiting times, but yet at the same time enable us to obtain an accurate diagnosis.”
With Covid-19 negatively impacting on NHS endoscopy services – which were already at breaking point in some regions – it is estimated there could be a backlog of 500,000 procedures.
The LumenEye was invented by Fareed Iqbal, a former British Colorectal Surgeon with over ten years’ experience of treating colorectal cancer patients.
He said: “Community clinics run by trained GPs with virtual specialist support for diagnostic oversight, will identify cancers when symptoms first begin leading to earlier cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatment.”
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