Narrow-band imaging endoscopy for diagnosis of malignant and premalignant gastrointestinal lesions.

Narrow-band imaging (NBI) is a novel endoscopic technique that may enhance the accuracy of diagnosis by using narrow-bandwidth filters in a red-green-blue (R/G/B) sequential illumination system. Magnifying endoscopy by using NBI has two distinct applications: the analysis of the surface architecture of the epithelium (pit pattern) and the analysis of the vascular network. This new technique allows a better characterization of distinct types of gastrointestinal epithelia (e.g. intestinal metaplasia in Barret's esophagus), as well as the disorganization of the vascular pattern in inflammatory disorders and the irregular pit pattern in early neoplastic lesions of the esophagus, stomach and large bowel.