Electronic endoscopy of the gastrointestinal tract. Initial experience with a new type of endoscope that has no fiberoptic bundle for imaging.

We report on 31 endoscopic investigations using a new type of electronic endoscope which has no fiberoptic bundle for imaging. The device carries on its tip a light-sensitive CCD chip which functions as a TV camera. The signals received are transformed by a processor and displayed on a TV monitor. The upper digestive tract was inspected in 23 patients with the electronic endoscope and in the same session, a fiberoptic-endoscopic esophagogastroduodenoscopy was carried out on 16 of them. The information obtained using the 2 systems differed neither quantitatively nor qualitatively. Because of its external diameter, it was not possible to introduce the electronic endoscope past esophageal stenoses in 2 patients. Preliminary experience with 2 types of colonoscopes in 8 patients strongly indicates that these devices are equivalent, in respect of optical quality, to the fiberoptic endoscopes. The quality and color reproduction of the TV image of the upper and lower digestive tract are excellent. Electronic endoscopy offers great potential for consultation, training and documentation. The patients tolerated the procedure very well.