In a new study, researchers found an easier way to remove colon polyps, which may develop into colon cancer.
This new method can help reduce the risk of tearing the colon during this procedure and prevent colon cancer more easily.
The research was conducted by a team from MIT.
More than 15 million colonoscopies are performed in the United States every year.
In at least 20% of those, doctors end up removing precancerous growths from the colon. Currently, this is the best way to prevent colon cancer from developing.
To reduce colon tearing during the surgery, doctors often inject a saline solution into the space below the lesion, forming a “cushion” that lifts the polyp so that it’s easier to remove safely.
However, complex lesions can take 10 to 20 minutes to remove, or even longer, but the saline cushion only lasts for a few minutes.
To solve the problem, in the study the team has to create a shear-thinning gel. It can be injected as a liquid but turns into a solid gel once it reaches the tissue, creating a more stable and longer-lasting cushion.
This can make a huge difference to the doctor who is performing the procedure. It ensures that there’s a stable area that they can then resect using endoscopic tools.
The team tested the new gel in pigs and found the gel could form a stable cushion for more than an hour.
They say the kind of injectable gel could be useful for applications such as narrowing the GI tract, which could be used to prevent acid reflux or to help with weight loss by making people feel full.
It could also potentially be used to deliver drugs to the intestinal tract.
The team hopes to begin trials in human patients within the next three to five years.
One author of the study is Giovanni Traverso, an assistant professor in MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering.
The study is published in Advanced Science.
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