NeoGuide Systems has developed a revolutionary system that enables clinically superior, easier and more cost-effective colonoscopy. The company believes that its device will result in increased compliance with the screening recommendations and will help to alleviate the current capacity constraint.

The limitations in the conventional colonoscopy procedure result from a phenomenon known as looping. As the physician inserts the flexible colonoscope into the flexible, highly distensible colon, forces are not directly transmitted to the tip. Instead, the colonoscope deflects the colon wall and causes it to loop. This stretches the mesentery, causing pain. Looping occurs in virtually all cases and is responsible for more than 90% of patient pain, as well as the need for sedation. Looping also makes the colonoscopy procedure physically difficult for the physician and adds time to the procedure.

The company’s initial product, the Neo Endoscopy System, is a multi-segmented, computer-assisted colonoscopy system. As the physician inserts the scope, the system creates a three-dimensional map of the colon and directs multiple segments behind the tip to follow this map. The system is designed to reduce looping, which will reduce patient pain and the need for sedation, dramatically increase the efficiency of endoscopy centers, and make the procedure physically easier for the gastroenterologist.