Article preview reprinted from Start-Up - July 2009
invendo medical has crystallized its mission around solving not just the single issue of sedationless colonoscopy, which is regarded by some as the solution to getting more patients into the endoscopy suite for colorectal cancer screening, but all three of what the company characterizes as the major drawbacks of colonoscopy: 1) patient discomfort (triggering the costs and complications of sedation); 2) the ease-of-use issue, or rather, the challenging learning curve of conventional endoscopes; and 3) the reusability that leads to cumbersome cleaning routines and residual infection risk. Invendo has developed a non-push scope that drives itself under the operator's control. Read more...
invendo medical GMBH
Article preview reprinted from Start-Up - July 2009
Apparently, most people would rather have a root canal than undergo a colonoscopy. Colorectal cancer makes for the ideal screening paradigm; it's deadly—in the US, more than 50,000 people die from the disease each year; it afflicts people with no identifiable risk factors other than advanced age, and perhaps 90% of the cases would be curable if caught early. Nevertheless, compliance with colorectal screening recommendations is low, only around 50% for colonoscopy, the gold standard for detecting precancerous polyps.
The disconnect is startling: colonoscopies prevent deaths from cancer, but the majority of the patients aged 50 and above who should be having the procedures at regular intervals just don't, because colonoscopy is more invasive than people think a screening procedure ought to be. As conducted with conventional semi-rigid endoscopes, colonoscopies can be painful, so in the US, the majority of patients undergo the screening procedures in a state of sedation, and, in the largest proportion of cases, even deep sedation.
Many patients avoid the procedures because of logistics—a colonoscopy procedure involving deep sedation requires them to take a full day off from work, and, since they're recovering from the effects of anesthesia, they will not be discharged until about an hour after the procedure and unless someone else can drive them home. Indeed, under the current state of affairs, screening colonoscopies present difficulties not only for patients, but for all three health care constituents: the patients, the providers and the payors.
- Mary Stuart
Purchase this article online as a PDF and receive it immediately via email. Questions? Call (800) 332-2181. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed. Subscribe to Start-Up.
Companies mentioned in this article:
About Start-Up
No publication reviews leading edge companies and technology better than START-UP. Each issue of START-UP profiles the most important new product companies, identifies the hottest technology areas, reviews funds flowing into private companies and investment trends, and reports on university tech transfer licensing. Industries covered: pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical equipment & devices, and in vitro diagnostics.
