NinePoint Medical Looks Deep For Barrett’s Esophagus

Article preview from IN VIVO - November  21, 2013

NinePoint Medical Inc. is looking to shed some insights on the mysteries of the esophagus. The venture-backed start-up launched NvisionVLE, an imaging system that can produce real-time images of the esophagus, enabling gastroenterologists to see where they need to cut when performing biopsies of tests of worrisome esophageal tissue including Barrett’s esophagus.

NinePoint Medical Looks Deep For Barrett’s Esophagus

Article preview from IN VIVO - November  21, 2013

The esophagus remains somewhat of a mystery to gastroenterologists, particularly regarding the treatment of Barrett’s esophagus, a cellular change in the lining of the esophagus caused by chronic injury due to gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). Barrett’s is potentially a precursor to deadly esophageal cancer. But the progression from Barrett’s to cancer can be slow or even stalled. Physicians can’t be certain which patients will become the sickest, so protocol requires regular endoscopic screening with white-light probes and many biopsies taken from the esophageal wall to determine whether the disease is progressing.

Imaging companies and researchers have worked to lift the veil a bit. A report by Charles J. Lightdale, MD, a gastroenterologist with Columbia University and New York-Presbyterian Hospital , notes that high-resolution white-light endoscopy and digital chromoendoscopy provide clear images of the surface of the esophageal wall. Endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS) can capture images from below the surface, but not with the resolution necessary to detect layers of dysplasia or cancer. Another imaging technology, Confocal laser endomicroscopy (CLE) can get clear pictures from beneath the surface. But the focus of the images is tight, so a developing problem in an adjacent area that hasn’t been scanned may be missed. The next logical step would be a way to scan the entire esophagus with a system capable of capturing high-resolution images of both the surface and subsurface.

“The FDA has not recently won very many awards for customer service,” Kataria said. “Mindful that we’re still regulators, mindful that we have that responsibility, … there still is room even with that responsibility to help to perhaps react in a more customer-oriented way.”

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