An investment in new endoscopy equipment at the Endoscopy Unit at Conquest Hospital, is helping to improve the service as the new equipment gives higher definition images during examinations and treatment of conditions within a patient’s digestive tract.
Endoscopy Unit team with their new equipment
Sue Winser, Endoscopy Unit Clinical Operational Manager said: “We are delighted to have this new equipment which will help our clinicians’ offer an improved service to our patients. It is a significant investment to replace our old equipment which had become dated and was failing regularly causing disruption and even the cancellation of procedures. With this new equipment we are now able to obtain higher definition images, helping us to improve the identification of disease and abnormalities.”
An endoscopy is a procedure where the inside of the body is examined using an instrument called an endoscope. It is a long, thin, flexible tube that has a light source and camera at one end. Images of the inside of the body are relayed to a television screen. The endoscope is inserted into the body through a natural opening, such as the mouth and down the throat, or through the bottom. An endoscopy can be used to investigate unusual symptoms without the need for invasive surgery and help perform certain types of non-invasive surgery including the removal of small samples of tissue for further analysis which is known as a biopsy.
Across the Trust around 14,500 endoscopy procedures are performed every year, with patients referred for an endoscopy for conditions such as; anaemia, from colitis or Crohn’s disease, for ulcers or oesophagitis, bowel, pancreatic or stomach cancers, gallstones and liver disease.