Projects

Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in Europe, and success of its treatment and survival critically depend on early detection. The current colonoscopy procedure is based on white light video or optical narrow-band imaging with limited ability for in vivo detection and characterization of the various types of cancerous and pre-cancerous lesions. The goal of the EU-funded PROSCOPE project is to develop a novel optical imaging platform that provides higher sensitivity and specificity compared to current colonoscopy, dramatically improving point-of-care management of colorectal cancer. The concept went through clinical validation using existing endoscopes and fitting into current procedures. This innovative imaging screening will improve early diagnosis of colorectal cancer with projected specificity and sensitivity above 90%. Within PROSCOPE, our laboratory is responsible from the design, manufacturing, testing and clinical validation of two novel multi-modal endomicroscopy instruments.