 |
|
INTEGRIS is One of the First to Use SpyGlass Technology After FDA Approval
|
|
|
|
August 28, 2007
OKLAHOMA CITY - Nicolas Jabbour, M.D., medical director of the INTEGRIS Nazih Zuhdi Transplant Institute and Mark Mellow, M.D., medical director of the INTEGRIS Digestive Health Center are pleased to announce that INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City was one of the first ten hospitals nationwide to use the SpyGlass™ Direct Visualization System after FDA approval.
Boston Scientific, the company that manufactures the device, selected INTEGRIS as a primary site because of the large number of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography procedures, ERCP for short, performed at the facility over the years.
Dr. Jabbour says, “It is a vote of confidence to be chosen for this new technology at this early stage of development.”
Approximately 445,000 ERCPs are performed in the U.S. each year.
Gastroenterologists use these endoscopes to diagnose diseases of the digestive system, which include the liver, bile ducts and pancreas. ERCPs help evaluate such conditions as gallstones, suspected malignancies, bile duct narrowing and cysts (fluid filled structures) of the pancreas.
Endoscopies are outpatient medical procedures in which a long flexible tube with a camera and light attached at the end is guided to the digestive tract through the mouth.
The conventional ERCP renders a two-dimensional black and white X-ray image that can produce inconclusive results. Many times, additional testing is required or a repeat procedure is necessary to confirm a definitive diagnosis.
The new SpyGlass System is designed to overcome these imaging limitations. Using a much smaller dual probe, physicians are able to access areas once considered unreachable.
With the conventional method doctors could only evaluate the bile ducts indirectly via X-rays. With the new SpyGlass device they can physically enter the ducts and actually see the causes of blockage and disease.
Having the ability to now literally look inside something as tiny as the bile duct and take clear precise color images enables physicians to make a faster and more accurate diagnosis. In addition, it reduces the need for repeat tests, making it more convenient for patients and their families.
Another benefit is that the SpyGlass can be controlled by a single physician. Other choledochoscope systems require two physicians or a physician and a skilled, trained nurse: one to control the ‘mother’ scope and the other person to control the ‘baby’ scope. But since the SpyGlass is actually a scope within a scope, only one operator is needed.
Most importantly, ERCPs with SpyGlass also allow for swifter treatment. Doctors using the device can biopsy immediately, remove gallstones and stretch out narrow areas in the bile duct, thus relieving a bile duct blockage. This less invasive type of treatment can often prevent the need for major surgery.
Right now, there are only 40 hospitals across the country using SpyGlass. INTEGRIS is the only such facility in the state of Oklahoma where citizens can receive treatment with this powerful technology.
Harlan Wright, M.D., with the INTEGRIS Nazih Zuhdi Transplant Institute, and Robert Rankin, M.D., who is with Digestive Disease Specialists Inc. and also a member of the medical gastroenterology team affiliated with the INTEGRIS Digestive Health Center, are two of only a select group of physicians specifically trained to use the new equipment.
Dr. Jabbour says close cooperation between the two departments is vital. “In medicine it is very hard to put borders into disciplines because one organ can affect more than one discipline.” For example, he says many GI diseases can lead to liver dysfunction or liver failure that in turn can require liver transplantation.
Dr. Mellow says the integration of so many disease related specialists at INTEGRIS is an advantage no other facility in the metro can match. “When a patient enters the system, whether they have a primary gastrointestinal problem or a liver problem,” explains Dr. Mellow, “their diagnosis and treatment take place under one roof in a coordinated fashion.”
With the two centers working together, INTEGRIS can offer complete comprehensive management of very specialized diseases. Being chosen to use SpyGlass technology is proof of what such a partnership can achieve.
Both doctors want Oklahomans to realize they don’t have to seek advanced treatment elsewhere; much of the latest medical technology is available right here at home.
“Treatments using leading edge technology are a distinguishing factor in caring for our patients,” says Mellow. “Oklahomans deserve the best medical care possible, and with the INTEGRIS Digestive Health Center and the INTEGRIS Nazih Zuhdi Transplant Institute working as a team, they won’t have to fly out of state or drive long distances for access to the most advanced diagnostic and therapeutic health care.”
“We are really in the forefront of not only using new technology,” says Jabbour, “but we are also participating in its evolution and development.”
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
| |
INTEGRIS Health Corporate Communications
3030 N.W. Expressway
Suite 1620
Oklahoma City, 73112
(405) 951-4826 |
|
|
 |
|
|