Technology upgrade gives surgeons more detail
PRESQUE ISLE — Employees at The Aroostook Medical Center’s Giberson Day Surgery Center, located on the A.R. Gould Memorial Hospital campus, are praising a recent technological upgrade that will provide surgeons and technicians with the best detailed image available on colonoscopies and esophagogastroduodenoscopies, more commonly referred to as EGDs.
Photo courtesy of The Aroostook Medical Center
TAMC SURGEON Dr. Anuj Kandel, left, performs an endoscopic procedure using the new high definition equipment as Erika McGann, RN, assists.
Hospital officials recently upgraded two scopes, one for EGDs and another for colonoscopies, along with their associated video equipment in the gastrointestinal (GI) lab to high definition. The new equipment allows clinicians to see more detail during procedures, leading to more accurate diagnosis. The new high definition equipment is the only one of its kind in Aroostook County.
“The increased detail provided by high definition is of great value,” said TAMC surgeon Dr. Anuj Kandel. “For instance, during a colonoscopy, polyps are easier to see and remove using this new high definition equipment.” The high definition display also allows providers to more easily set ink tattoos and markers in potential problem areas during a procedure.
Ink tattooing is a method surgeons use to mark cancerous areas that cannot be removed during an exploratory procedure. In these instances, the surgeon will mark the problem area so that a surgeon can go in later and surgically remove the affected, marked area.
The scopes also boast a technological improvement called responsive insertion that allows the scope to easily conform to the patient’s natural anatomy. The technology allows for the scope to enter the body more easily and with less risk of injury or tissue damage. This leads to less patient discomfort and procedural difficulty than conventional scopes.
“The new scopes are safer for patients,” said Kandel, who has performed more than 360 endoscopic procedures since last July. “The scopes easily conform to the natural shape of the colon during a colonoscopy or the esophagus during an EGD, making discomfort and risk of injury minimal.”
In 2012, over 400 colonoscopies and over 300 EGDs were performed at A.R. Gould Memorial Hospital.
