The Cath-Cam: a new concept in colonoscopy.
BACKGROUND
Guidewires and catheters exert less force on the gut wall than an endoscope.


OBJECTIVE
To develop a guidewire-assisted device for colonoscopy.


METHODS
A light-weight flexible catheter illuminated with light-emitting diodes was designed to carry an ultraslim high-resolution videoendoscope of 3 mm. Tip bend stiffness was 5 times less than a colonoscope. Hinged guidewires were passed, folded, through the accessory channel. A loop could be rapidly formed to explore the lumen.


RESULTS
The catheter followed curves of excised pig colon and exerted significantly less force on the colon wall than a colonoscope (mean 1.6 +/- 0.23 N vs 3.0 +/- 0.37 N, P < .05; bend-radius, 80 mm). Survival studies in pigs showed that the guidewire loop could be advanced under visual control and the Cath-Cam could be advanced by using much less force than the colonoscope.


CONCLUSIONS
A catheter-based colonoscope with a miniature video imager reduced the force required for successful colonoscopy in pigs.
Long
Gary
G
Department of Medical Physics, University College London, UK.
Fritscher-Ravens
Annette
A
Mosse
C Alexander
CA
Mills
Tim
T
Swain
Paul
P
D000818:Animals; D003106:Colon / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000601:surgery; D020685:Colonoscopes; D003113:Colonoscopy / Q000379:methods*; D004867:Equipment Design; D018583:Pliability; D013552:Swine; D014741:Video Recording / Q000295:instrumentation*