10 March, 2016
New digital endoscope, Spy Glass, the best biliopancreatic diagnostic and treatment
A few days ago, the Hospital Clínic Group has acquired a new digital endoscope Spy Glass. It is an advanced tool that offers optimal visualization of the biliary and pancreatic tract and that enables the carrying out of, in more than 90% of the cases, diagnostic and treatment procedures. With the installation of this Endoscope, the Endoscopy unit of Clínic Group, together with the Hospital La Fe in Valencia , are the only ones of Spain to offer this technology.
At the beginning of February the group led by Dr. Josep Llach, did the first test with the new digital endoscope. The Spy Glass is an ultra-thin endoscope, with a digital image, offering a more direct and better quality precise display of the bile ducts.
Dr. Llach explains clearly the differences between the new Spy Glass and the endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP), the conventional endoscopic technique for biliopancreatic lesions: “The ERCP enables, above all, the treatment of gallstones in the bile duct or to attach a prosthesis. The problem is that it doesn’t allow easy access to the bile ducts or to detect the exact pathology. With the new digital Spy Glass endoscope we are able to see the biliopancreatic tract directly and can make a differential diagnosis between a benign and malignant lesion, perform biopsies in a direct manner and provide treatment according to the diagnosed pathology“.
“With the new digital Spy Glass endoscope we can make a differential diagnosis between a benign and malignant lesion, perform biopsies in a direct manner and provide treatment according to the diagnosed pathology”
Spy Glass, introduced in Europe in June 2015, offers numerous advantages in the diagnosis of lesions in the pancreatic and biliary tree, in the evaluation of stenosis of an indeterminate cause such as cancer, when performing biopsies and the localization of pancreatic and biliary gallstones after ERCP. Dr. Andrés Cárdenas, senior specialist of the Gastroenterology service, explains the importance of some of these benefits in diagnosis: “Biliary tract tumors are difficult to diagnose and, therefore, their localization and extent are necessary to be treated properly.”
“(SpyGlass) can revolutionize the diagnosis and therapeutic approach towards biliary duct and pancreatic diseases”
The new digital endoscope not only offers advantages in diagnosis, but also in the treatment. The Spy Glass offers optimum results in the treatment of bile stones which are difficult to manage. The possibility of having this technology has improved the prognosis and reduced the number of interventions that patients must be submitted to. Dr. Cárdenas considers that this advance technology “can revolutionize the diagnosis and therapeutic approach towards biliary tract and pancreatic diseases“.