DECEMBER 30, 2015
Computer-assisted technology helps beat cervical cancer
As recently as the 1940s, cervical cancer was a major cause of death among women in the United States. Fortunately, advancements in how physicians screen for cancerous and pre-cancerous conditions of the cervix have some health practitioners hopeful that fatalities from cervical cancer, currently numbering over 4,000 annually, can be virtually eliminated within our lifetime.
A new computerized diagnostic tool designed to assist in the early detection of cancerous and pre-cancerous cervical lesions called the DySIS™ Advanced Cervical Imaging System is now available in more than 50 US cities after undergoing extensive testing and review in Europe.
Endorsed by the UK National Institute of Health and Care Excellence, the FDA-cleared medical device is being praised by physicians for its ability to help identify abnormalities - and even cancers - on the cervix, which can sometimes escape detection during a standard colposcopy. Colposcopy is a diagnostic exam, usually following an abnormal Pap smear, in which a doctor applies a special solution to the cervix and peers into a binocular viewer called a colposcope to look for areas that turn white (acetowhitening), indicating abnormal cells and that a cervical biopsy may be needed.
"The DySIS system is a clinically proven 'smart colposcope' offering important advancements that improve the examination procedure for both doctors and patients," says Kim Stebbings, US President of DySIS Medical, Inc.
One of those significant advancements is the imaging system that produces a DySISmap™, which is a color-coded image that looks like a weather map showing the precise areas of the cervix where acetowhitening is stronger and could contain abnormal cells.
The DySISmap sometimes highlights areas that are not easily visible using traditional methods. The physician includes the DySISmap information with other observations to help accurately select biopsy sites. Unlike most standard colposcopes, the DySIS colposcope also stores cervical images and the map electronically for easy comparison during future exams.
Stebbings says examinations performed using the DySIS System are reimbursed by insurers just like a standard exam, so there should be no additional cost to patients.
