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"Discovery Files" Features from the National Science Foundation
"End Run"
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COLONOSCOP-EASE... THE "DISCOVERY FILES": NEW ADVANCES IN SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, FROM THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION. "COLONOSCOPY": JUST THE WORD MAKES YOU WINCE A LITTLE. THE SLIGHT DISCOMFORT IS FAR OUTWEIGHED BY THE BENEFITS OF EARLY CANCER DETECTION. BUT, COULD THERE BE A LESS-INVASIVE WAY? YES: A NEW PROCEDURE BEING DEVELOPED AT NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY. IT'S BASED ON SOMETHING CALLED THE "FIELD EFFECT". WHEN THERE'S A PRE-CANCEROUS CHANGE IN ONE PART OF THE COLON, THERE ARE SUBTLE CELLULAR CHANGES IN ALL PARTS. THE NEW METHOD INVOLVES AN OPTICAL SCREENING JUST AT THE BASE OF THE COLON. NO PREP; NO LIQUID DIET. IT'S SORT OF LIKE BEING ABLE TO SEE WHO'S ON THE TRAIN, JUST BY LOOKING AT THE CABOOSE. IF THIS INITIAL LESS-INVASIVE TEST SHOWS NO SIGNS OF CELL CHANGES, NO COLONOSCOPY SHOULD BE NEEDED. ONE WOULD ONLY BE REQUIRED IF THE SCREENING INDICATED THE PRESENCE OF PRE-CANCEROUS OR CANCEROUS CELLS. WITH ONLY 15-PERCENT OF AMERICANS WHO NEED A COLONOSCOPY ACTUALLY GETTING ONE, THIS NEW WAY OF SCREENING COULD MAKE A REAL DIFFERENCE. THE RESEARCHERS BELIEVE THAT THE PROCEDURE COULD BE USED IN THE DETECTION OF OTHER CANCERS, AS WELL. A NOT-SO–SILLY ONE-MILLIMETER-WIDE OPTICAL PROBE FOR LESS-INVASIVE COLON-CANCER SCREENING: SOME REAL LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL. THE "DISCOVERY FILES" COVERS PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE GOVERNMENT'S NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION: FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH BROUGHT TO YOU BY YOU! LEARN MORE AT "N-S-F"-DOT-GOV--OR ON THEIR PODCAST.
For additional "Discovery Files" features from the National Science Foundation, click here.
