Dartmouth General Hospital expects the arrival of an intelligent GI Genius endoscopy machine in early April, a few months after the technology was approved for use in Canada.
It is a system that scans images taken during a colonoscopy and detects possible precancerous lesions, called polyps, that might not otherwise be detected.
“It’s innovative. It will hopefully save many lives in Nova Scotia. And we’re really excited to bring it to our hospital,” said Dr Natalie Cheng, head of the medical website for Dartmouth General.
Dr. Natalie Cheng is the webmaster for Dartmouth General Hospital. (CBC)
Cheng said the first data from the United States shows that the technology used by GI Genius can detect 14 percent more polyps than a normal colonoscopy, in which a doctor evaluates images with the naked eye.
Artificial intelligence in the system learns the patterns associated with polyps and as it finds more of them, the detection rate improves, Cheng said.
Given the high rate of colon cancer in Nova Scotia, Cheng said the technology is particularly important. He said about 800 cases were diagnosed in the province last year and the disease is the second most common cause of cancer deaths.
If polyps are not detected in time, they can spread to the point where they are no longer curable, Cheng said. He said early prevention is actually simple, because polyps can be removed as soon as they are detected.
Colorectal cancer is also not something that people can notice in the early stages, Cheng added, because the symptoms can be “really discreet”. Therefore, anything that helps enhance detection is vital.
“It hits so much of our population that I really think it could have a positive impact in a preventative way,” he said.
The hospital already serves people across the province with a special room for colorectal cancer screening, as well as two other endoscopy suites.
GI Genius is shown in this brochure photo. Dartmouth General Hospital was the first in Canada to order the device. (Medtronic)
The new technology will be piloted in Dartmouth to see if it fits in with the promising results across borders, Cheng said, and hopes it could spread to other parts of the province.
“We are so excited to have it here in Dartmouth first,” said Steven Harding, CEO of the Dartmouth General Hospital Foundation.
Harding said the $ 100,000 GI Genius is partly funded by the John and Judy Bragg Innovation Fund and the annual Get Up There! (GUT) event supported by the hospital foundation.
The GUT event will take place in Halifax on April 1, and Harding said any funds raised beyond what is needed for the GI Genius could be allocated to a second device if the pilot does well.
The distributor of the machine, Medtronic, stated in a press release that it received a Health Canada license for the GI Genius in November 2021.
