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FUTURE PERSPECTIVES OF GASTROINTESTINAL ENDOSCOPY AND JOINT ACADEMIC–INDUSTRIAL RESEARCH FOLLOWING TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION IN MEDICAL AND BIOLOGICAL ENGINEERING
Author(s) -
Tajiri Hisao
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
digestive endoscopy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.5
H-Index - 56
eISSN - 1443-1661
pISSN - 0915-5635
DOI - 10.1111/j.1443-1661.2005.00510.x
Subject(s) - endoscope , medicine , capsule endoscopy , medical physics , endoscopic ultrasonography , promotion (chess) , endoscopy , surgery , radiology , politics , political science , law
Screening surveys conducted to predict the future of gastrointestinal endoscopy, have revealed a tendency towards emphasis on the development of endoscopes of smaller diameters, to reduce the pain and discomfort caused to patients. It appears that the efforts to develop newer endoscopes with a focus on further reducing the diameter of the tip of the endoscopes, while preserving the visualizing and manipulating capabilities of endoscopes, are moving towards development of wireless capsule endoscopes. Regarding improvement in the diagnostic capabilities of endoscopes, it is expected that high‐definition (HD)‐TV technology‐compatible endoscopy systems and so on, will be developed in the near future, with the improved resolution of images and improved image analysis systems, accompanied by the development of new endoscope‐linked devices, such as endoscopic ultrasonography, a fluorescent endoscope, and an ultra‐magnifying endoscope. These developments may eventually lead to the age of ‘bioendoscopy’, in which endoscopes would be used for not only morphological diagnosis, like conventional endoscopes, but also for evaluation of the pathophysiology of individual diseases through combining cell‐level diagnosis with functional diagnosis using an ultra‐magnifying endoscope. This paper will also summarize the current status and problems pertaining to joint academic‐industrial research for the development of new diagnostic imaging devices from an international perspective, placing emphasis on the ideal mode of academic–industry collaboration, improvements in education and personnel development, strengthening of collaboration among the medical, engineering and pharmaceutical fields, and promotion of clinical trials on new medical devices.