European scientists are developing a new endoscope which will play a role in identifying and diagnosing precancerous polyps and early colon cancers, News Medical reports.
The initiative is known as the Piccolo Project
Here's what you should know.
1. Piccolo Project member Dr. Artzai Picon said the scientists are combining optical coherence tomography with multiphoton tomography to create high-resolution structural and functional imaging. They believe that will allow scientists to observe changes at the cellular level.
2. The Piccolo probe will allow image-based diagnosis without tissue biopsies.
3. The Piccolo team is currently refining its prototype. The team wants an operational prototype by 2018 with a targeted clinical trial date of 2020.