Tampa - A new technique that uses computerised imaging instead of an invasive probe is emerging in the battle to detect colorectal cancer, which strikes an estimated 130,000 Americans a year and kills half that number, doctors and researchers said.
The test, called virtual colonoscopy, is being studied at a few medical centres around the country. It uses high-speed computerised tomography (CT) scanning machines to produce a three-dimensional image of the colon that seems to accurately detect cancerous lesions about 80 per cent of the time, said Dr Bernard Levin, of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Centre.
