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Minimally Invasive Imaging Technology for the GI Tract Available at Saint Barnabas Medical Center Livingston, N.J. -- Saint Barnabas Medical Center is among only a few hospitals in New Jersey offering patients with upper gastrointestinal diseases endoscopic ultrasound--an advanced imaging technology that has not been widely used in the past two decades because of prohibitive equipment costs and intensive training requirements. “EUS has emerged as standard practice for the diagnosis and staging of malignancy and the assessment of gastrointestinal disease,” says Robert Ruffini, M.D., Co-Chief of Gastroenterology at Saint Barnabas Medical Center. “In some cases, unnecessary surgeries can even be avoided by utilizing the data retrieved through EUS. Also, EUS images allow careful evaluation of the extent of tumor extension within the gastrointestinal tract, which may aid in cancer staging.” According to the physicians, the information gained through EUS can be used to determine the most effective means to manage GI diseases, including cancer of the esophagus, lung, stomach, pancreas and rectum. In the past, New Jersey residents have been referred miles from home or out-of-state for this procedure because hospitals have not invested funds to develop the service. Now, Saint Barnabas Medical Center offers patients endoscopic ultrasound performed by trained, experienced gastroenterologists. In addition to detecting small pancreatic tumors and common bile duct stones, EUS technology can help to determine the stage of gastrointestinal and pulmonary tumors. EUS is the only modality that can accurately determine how deeply a tumor penetrates through the digestive tract wall. Prior to the development of EUS in the early 1980s, physicians were limited to imaging only tissue surfaces of the GI tract through standard endoscopes. Further investigation of suspicious lesions within and around the GI tract, at that time, required highly invasive, and sometimes surgical, intervention. EUS combines ultrasound technology with endoscopic instrumentation with the incorporation of a tiny transducer (used to transmit ultrasound pulses into soft tissue) to the tip of an endoscope. The resultant echoendoscope offers physicians a minimally invasive means, with an extremely low complication rate, to image beyond the GI tract wall surface. Echoendoscopes utilize radial scanning technology to produce a wide, easy to read, 360° diagnostic cross-sectional view of the GI tract and offer useful diagnostic information of suspicious lesions. It allows the physician to simultaneously view high quality video endoscopic images with in-depth ultrasonic images on a video monitor. The scanning echoendoscopes produce a lateral view of the GI tract that helps the physician to safely pass a needle through the echoendoscope to acquire a sample of the suspicious lesion through EUS-guided Fine Needle Aspiration. EUS-guided FNA is fast becoming one of today’s most effective methods in the assessment and diagnosis of benign and malignant disease within and around the GI tract. The acquired sample can then be evaluated to determine the nature of the tissue, and in most cases, to confirm malignancy. The scanning echoendoscopes also offer an accurate and minimally invasive means for various therapeutic applications, such as celiac plexus block, or neurolysis, and pseudocyst drainage. “EUS is a great tool in diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy,” says Vitaly Fishbein, M.D., an attending Saint Barnabas gastroenterologist who is experienced in using this technology. “Its availability at Saint Barnabas, as well as advances in the application of EUS into new and exciting areas, maximizes quality patient care.” For more information about EUS imaging technology at Saint Barnabas, you can locate an attending Saint Barnabas Medical Center gastroenterologist by calling 1-888-SBMC-DOC.
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