No need to put off colon cancer screening anymore. Radiologists at the University of Cincinnati are now offering the virtual test, which a new study shows is just as good at detecting potential risk as the traditional kind.

Local 12 Medical Reporter Liz Bonis takes us inside the procedure room today to show us how it works in today’s Medical Edge.

Think of it sort of like mammography, virtual colonoscopies, taken by this machine, which uses computed tomography or c-t, can provide the same thing for your colon. Not just in black and white, but with moving video and in color. The difference? How Doctor Howard Feigelson gets these images.

Dr. Howard Feigelson, University of Cincinnati: “This is a colonoscopy without having to put a tube inside the colon.”

You see, unlike the traditional kind, where you have to take the day off and be put under mild sedation so doctors can go inside the colon with a probe, as Gary Renner found out this test allows you to be alert and awake the whole time.
“I laid on my side, laid on my stomach, laid on my back and took four pictures.” Those pictures are taken by inflating the colon with air.

“We put a very small pencil size catheter in the rectum, we introduce with a controlled machine the amount of CO2 that they get, we use CO2 instead of room air which they get, it removes social embarrassment by having the CO2.”
Total time? 20 minutes, you can go back to work, and to your next meal right away. Your doctor can take a look immediately at those images. The images allow for detection of abnormalities from a contrast solution you drink before the virtual test. As for accuracy, a recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine found:

“CT colonography, another name for virtual colonography, was as accurate as the optical colonoscopy.”

Good news, Gary Renner says, because this test causes a lot less anxiety.

With your Medical Edge, Liz Bonis, Local 12.

The test is not yet covered by most medical insurance plans, but is expected to be soon, based on this new study. In most cases, it costs about 350 dollars, and is recommended for healthy adults, age 50 and older. The traditional test may be needed as follow up.