The PROSCOPE project is driven by unmet clinical needs in the field of gastroenterological diagnosis and a clear business case. A novel optical imaging platform, which offers the potential to vastly improve early diagnosis of CRC by achieving specificity and sensitivity above 90%, to reduce the number of excisional biopsies by 50%, and to improve interval screening planning. Combined, all these advantages will benefit patients and reduce healthcare costs drastically. The consortium includes five leading academics, including hospital clinics, and four SMEs covering the entire value chain.
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most common cause of cancer death in Europe, but survival rates drop dramatically if it is not detected early. One obstacle for early detection is that current colonoscopy, i.e. white light video or optical narrow band imaging, is inadequate for in-vivo detection and characterisation of the various types of (pre-)cancerous lesions found in the colon. Point-of-care, real-time polyp diagnosis and image-guided intervention has the potential to save lives and healthcare costs by enabling early onset of treatment. This will, in turn, reduce recurrence rate, improve and reduce the need for interval screening, and reduce pathology costs incurred during colonoscopy.
A complete, reliable optical diagnosis would need to be sensitive to both morphological and biochemical changes. Unfortunately, no single optical method provides both. PROSCOPE is designed to provide a unique combination of label-free, non-ionizing, proven optical imaging modalities that provide superior sensitivity and specificity compared to current colonoscopy, which will facilitate a step-change in point-of-care management of CRC.
With the PROSCOPE project, we aim to develop and integrate recent advances in optical imaging and optical probe technology into one platform. The concept will be validated in clinical settings using existing endoscopes that provide a minimally invasive optical imaging that can be incorporated into current clinical procedures. Leading medical device manufacturers and clinicians will be involved at every stage of the development and validation.
