A small, high-tech camera that clips onto the toilet can be used to detect signs of bowel cancer. The camera scans stools in the bowl for signs of blood, then transmits data to an app on the user’s smartphone. The app uses AI to provide results within minutes. Based on initial testing, accuracy is up to 90 percent. In the UK, about 16,000 people a year die of bowel cancer. The current method of testing involves sending a stool sample in for analysis, but this is unpleasant and often inaccurate. OutSense, the maker of the camera device, hopes to seek approval for it within the next two years.
Key Takeaways:
- Resembling a toilet freshener, the device uses cutting-edge imaging techniques to scan stools in the bowl for traces of blood — a sign of the disease.
- If warning signs are identified, more detailed investigations may be recommended such as a colonoscopy, where a thin, flexible probe with a camera on the end is used to look for signs of cancer.
- But some people find the testing process unpleasant and research suggests the kits only identify 70 per cent of tumours.
“The earlier bowel cancer is caught, the greater the chances of survival. More than 90 per cent of patients diagnosed at the earliest stage (stage one) are alive after five years, compared to just 10 per cent of those diagnosed at stage four (when the cancer has spread), according to Cancer Research UK.”
