Mike Wiegenstein: Welcome back. We are in studio with Dr. Glenn discussing Virtual Colonoscopy. Dr., I have to tell you, having had the virtual done and obviously I’ve had the distinct pleasure of having a barium enema, I’ve had the rigid scope and I’ve had four or six feet whatever it has to be, inserted inside of me. I don’t understand after having the virtual and seeing what it can do and the quality of the images, why it’s not the --? There’s no anesthesia, there’s very limited – in or out, there’s no pain, why isn’t everybody using that to detect cancer?
Dr. William Glenn: A couple of reasons. The fiber optic scopes, people believe represent the way of visualizing and then if you can grab that scope and just as if we had a light source on the end of it and the light source is eliminating the yellow here. As you pull that out, endoscopes only seeing 79-80% of the surface of the cone, he is not seeing the green areas behind the source.
Mike Wiegenstein: So why wouldn’t you want to use -- you can use everything in the virtual --
Dr. William Glenn: We see upwards of a 100% with the other. Now the other reason is there have been tremendous advancements just in the last four years. The first three major articles up to 2002 were done with single slice or dual slice and the important product here --
Mike Wiegenstein: What does that mean, single slice?
Dr. William Glenn: The CT scanners gather pictures, axio-pictures.
Mike Wiegenstein: I think one picture at a time.
Dr. William Glenn: One picture at a time. Here it was one or two at a time and the resolution behind those rigid is what you see down here. The New England journal study was four channel and you see the --
Mike Wiegenstein: This one, this four channel one said that virtual is as good as the scope.
Dr. William Glenn: It was said it was better than the scope at the pilot diameters that meter, 7 millimeters and above.
Mike Wiegenstein: Okay.
Dr. William Glenn: So here we are, one or two four channel and yours was done on the 16th channel. This is over near the cecum.
Mike Wiegenstein: Now the clarity is a lot better.
Dr. William Glenn: Clarity is enormously better. So imagine what you’ll be able to see behind these tall deep mountain ranges or --
Mike Wiegenstein: Okay, now you actually have designed software that takes that implant completely out.
Dr. William Glenn: Yes. Here is what we are able to do Michael and this is your data. Starting at the rectum, you’ll see here in the left side of the screen, a collapsed segment which is open on the right side when you were lying on your tummy. As we go up here, you’ll see all these little bumps. If we want to stop and interrogate any one of these little bumps with the 3D view or a 2D view, we can do that, but the bottom line is we can scroll from one end of your colon to the other in 90 seconds.
Mike Wiegenstein: So you can tell basically by that being that way, by being able to flatten that out like that and look at it. Within 90 seconds, you can scroll my whole colon, look through it and tell me whether I have any polyps that would need to come out or require further investigations?
Dr. William Glenn: We can identify any suspicious areas, we can drill down on them and interrogate them with the other more conventional ways of looking at virtual colonoscopy data, the 3D views and the 2D multi-planner views.
Mike Wiegenstein: If somebody wants to get this done, if somebody basically scheduled to go get a scope or if they want to know about this, I don’t understand why a 60,000 people a year are dying, well I did with a scope, why they wouldn’t go and get it done? I am supposed to go every few years and get it done and I almost refused to do because it was extremely painful. With the virtual, there was no pain at all. So if somebody want to get it done and there is nowhere to go, they didn’t know what to do, can I call you or is there somebody in the phonebook you can look up, it’s very new. Obviously I didn’t even know this existed until I heard about you and I called you and you adamant I get it done.
Dr. William Glenn: Most centers Michael are not doing this. It takes too long, there’s too much data. So we want to do this as a primary source.
Mike Wiegenstein: Does it take long, there’s too much data because the center doesn’t have the right equipment or because it didn’t -- I am going to tell you that, it took you no time at all to do this and it didn’t seem that -- you took no time at all to put all these documents together, so obviously it doesn’t take that long if you have the right stuff.
Dr. William Glenn: If they call our 1-800 number we’ll direct them to a local center in their neighborhood that can get this done.
Mike Wiegenstein: And they can go and get it now. Will they get the copies like I do, will they get the nice pack and they keep it for the records?
Dr. William Glenn: Sure.
Mike Wiegenstein: To me, it’s incredible that I can have this, I can keep it and five years from now, when I go to get my next one, all I actually be able to compare myself, I didn’t realize they don’t keep records of your scope and they put it up in there.
Dr. William Glenn: No, that’s true.
Mike Wiegenstein: The do a video?
Dr. William Glenn: You can have your roll of flattening view and you can put it in your wall if you --
Mike Wiegenstein: Well, I want to thank you for coming on the show. You have been -- it’s amazing what’s out there and I don’t think that anybody realizes how fast computer technologies advancing, I mean we use it everyday in our life, we use the cam machines, our telephones, everything in our lives is computerized and yet when it comes to medical care, until I met you with, there didn’t seem to be that big push to take advantage of that stuff in that part of our lives.
Dr. William Glenn: Well, I would ask that you tell your audience that you didn’t believe a word I was saying.
Mike Wiegenstein: I didn’t believe anything you said.
Dr. William Glenn: Okay, and so now you do because of your personal experience in the past and because of what we put you through and what you’ve seen and hell in your own hand.
Mike Wiegenstein: Yeah, I was very scared. I want to tell you I was very scared, I played it off when I came but I was very, very scared that day. Now knowing what I know, five years I’ll go get my next one. It’s been a pleasure having you on the show and hope to have you back.
Dr. William Glenn: Thank you.
Mike Wiegenstein: Thanks. You’ve been watching Medical News Network. For information on this topic or any other, please visit our website at medicalnewsnetwork.info. Until next time, I wish you good health.
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