Milou van Riswijk wins a research grant at the Champions’ Den at the ESGE days 2022

At the Research Champions’ Den at the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE) days 2022 ten researchers presented their projects to a panel of ESGE top international experts, in a bid to win an ESGE Research Grant.

After facing tough questioning from the ‘Dragons’ three grants were awarded. The research proposal of Milou van Riswijk was 1 of the 3 best contestants in the Champions’ Den and was awarded a research grant!

Colonoscopy is the gold standard for colorectal cancer screening, but up to 20% of polyps are missed during colonoscopy. This greatly contributes to the incidence of post-colonoscopy colorectal cancer. As a solution, computer aided detection (CADe) has been developed to alert the endoscopist on a potential polyp in the field of view. The added benefit of CADe’s is being studied increasingly, and evidence suggests that the miss-rate of adenomas is reduced significantly.

However, if the polyp is located outside the field of view, the CADes cannot detect it! Haustral fold and endoscope slippage can preclude a polyp from being detected and are a large contributor to missed polyps. A solution for this might be devices that are attached to the endoscope that help retract the haustral folds, thereby increasing mucosal visualization.

Therefore, we hypothesize that by combining these techniques, a synergistic effect on the detection rate of adenomas can be established.