Engineering Department, University of Exeter, North Park Road, Exeter, EX4 4QF, UK.
Royal Devon University Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Barrack Road, Exeter, EX2 5DW, UK.
Ann Biomed Eng. 2023 Apr;51(4):679-701. doi: 10.1007/s10439-023-03155-8. Epub 2023 Feb 14.
Bowel cancer is a multifactorial disease arising from a combination of genetic predisposition and environmental factors. Detection of bowel cancer and its precursor lesions is predominantly performed by either visual inspection of the colonic mucosa during endoscopy or cross-sectional imaging. Most cases are diagnosed when the cancer is already at an advanced stage. These modalities are less reliable for detecting lesions at the earliest stages, when they are typically small or flat. Removal of lesions at the earliest possible stage reduces the risk of cancer death, which is largely due to a reduced risk of subsequent metastasis. In this review, we summarised the origin of bowel cancer and the mechanism of its metastasis. In particular, we reviewed a broad spectrum of literatures covering the biomechanics of bowel cancer and its measurement techniques that are pertinent to the successful development of a bowel cancer diagnostic device. We also reviewed existing bowel cancer diagnostic techniques that are available for clinical use. Finally, we outlined current clinical needs and highlighted the potential roles of medical robotics on early bowel cancer diagnosis.
结直肠癌是一种多因素疾病，由遗传易感性和环境因素共同作用引起。结直肠癌及其前体病变的检测主要通过内镜检查时对结肠黏膜的目视检查或横断面成像来进行。大多数病例在癌症已处于晚期时才被诊断出来。这些方法对于检测最早阶段的病变不太可靠，因为这些病变通常很小或呈扁平状。在最早的可能阶段切除病变可以降低癌症死亡的风险，这主要是由于随后转移的风险降低。在这篇综述中，我们总结了结直肠癌的起源及其转移的机制。特别是，我们综述了广泛的文献，涵盖了结直肠癌的生物力学及其与成功开发结直肠癌诊断设备相关的测量技术。我们还回顾了现有的可用于临床的结直肠癌诊断技术。最后，我们概述了当前的临床需求，并强调了医疗机器人在早期结直肠癌诊断中的潜在作用。
