Doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital are testing a new type of colonoscopy where you don't have to drink that yucky stuff the night before. Unlike the traditional colonoscopy, this test uses a CT scan to get a visual of the colon. Patients just need to follow a low-fiber diet two days ahead of the scan, and then take a pill before the test, which helps provide some contrast of the images screened.
That contrast, along with a new software program, allows doctors to differentiate between what you should and should not see in the colon. Over six hundred people have tested this with a 90-percent success rate at finding and removing polyps that could become cancer.
Researchers say it's not perfect, but it might get some folks in for a screening who would otherwise skip the traditional colonoscopy.
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