We’re all familiar with the most massive, long-standing companies that are bedrocks of the endoscopy and processing industries, and we’re familiar with some smaller names that have been around a long time too. Anyone who has been to an endoscopy or processing tradeshow has grown accustomed to the giant booths that anchor even massive floor spaces. The endoscopy and processing industries are quite stable with these mainstay companies, but those companies do continue to roll out new products that you might not be familiar with, and new companies pop up as well.
Thus, a primer.
The following article highlights a smattering of those new products, new companies and some new(ish) companies. Everyone gets used to certain providers and products, but it’s always great to check into unknown sources and products. There are many fresh choices to consider. Indeed, the endoscopy market is witnessing a surge of new companies leveraging robotics, artificial intelligence, advanced imaging, and miniaturization to enhance diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities. These innovations aim to improve patient outcomes, reduce procedure times and expand the scope (pun intended?) of minimally invasive procedures.
For instance, companies like EndoAI are developing AI-powered software with the goal of assisting endoscopists in real-time identification of polyps, tumors and other abnormalities, improving early detection rates and reducing oversight. Below, you’ll first see new and newish companies, and below that you’ll find a smattering of new products. The new-products list is in no way exhaustive—products are being launched all the time.
Arithmedics, founded in 2023, uses generative AI and data intelligence to streamline billing and reduce claim denials. Its software generates and explains codes and uses data from completed claims to reduce future denials.
According to the company, “We are redefining healthcare administration with AI—building leaner, faster, smarter systems that restore physician time for patient care.”
Arithmedics is based in Cupertino, California.
The leaders of Aspero Medical seek to advance flexible endoscopy with their Pillar balloon overtube solution. The balloon overtube is designed to improve mucosal-wall traction and anchoring consistency in the GI tract, while also providing atraumatic engagement with the bowel wall.
Aspero Medical is based in Boulder, Colorado and was founded in 2018.
Cofounded by gastroenterologists in 2021 and based in Minneapolis, Aurora Medical Technologies strives to make endoscopic suturing easier for surgeons. Aurora has developed a minimally invasive suturing technology using through-the-channel, multipuncture, reloadable tissue-anchoring systems.
The technology can be used on complex endoscopic procedures, such as gastric remodeling for obesity, gallbladder drainage, closure of luminal defects and facilitation of gastroenteric anastomosis.
The medical device startup Endiatx launched in 2019 and is based in Hayward, California. Endiatx offers PillBot, a series of pill-sized robots for remote diagnosis within the GI tract.
Company literature states, “We gave our pill camera motors to make it maneuverable, and we made it affordable enough to flush down the toilet. No anesthesia or pre-op visits, just 10 minutes of real-time video from the inside.”
Ergami, based in Brooklyn, New York, is developing what the company calls a “low-cost” robotic colonoscope insertion solution to improve procedure productivity.
Company literature says that the product will also reduce patient pain and need for sedation and can lower endoscopy-related injuries in endoscopy professionals. Ergami launched in 2023.
Lazurite was founded in 2015 in Cleveland, Ohio and was formerly known as Indago. Lazurite’s ArthroFree2 allows users to “experience a crystal clear, crisp image with Meridiem image enhancement,” according to Lazurite marketing materials. “As your camera hand guides your vision, complete your procedures with unparalleled focus and efficiency.”
According to the American Gastroenterological Association, the Lazurite wireless surgical camera system “improves operating room safety and efficiency by allowing surgeons to perform endoscopic, arthroscopic, and other minimally invasive procedures without light or video cables. The cordless camera provides high-quality images while eliminating trip, fire and contamination hazards and removing ergonomic challenges caused by tethering.”
The company Xenocor launched about a decade ago and is based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Xenocor designs, develops and produces single-use laparoscopes, such as the Saberscope. According to Xenocor marketing materials, Saberscope is the “only laparoscope with an industry-first 1080 HD single-use camera.” Other product details state that the Saberscope is fog-free and:
- articulates 90°
- has improved visualization in smoky cases
- limits burn
- reduces delays and cancellations
- reduces cross-contamination risk
SteriView Technologies offers an infection-control system that enables direct visual inspection of hard-to-reach spaces in endoscopes and related medical devices.
According to SteriView’s CEO, Jerry Katzman, M.D., “The SteriView Infection Control System featuring the SteriCam line of inspection cameras represents the next inventive step and comprises a most critical asset in the fight against healthcare-associated, device-related infections.”
SteriView launched in 2016 and has its research and development housed in Petaluma, California with its engineering and manufacturing in Northvale, New Jersey.
NEW PRODUCTS
NTT and Olympus announced in late March that the two companies have jointly begun a demonstration experiment of a cloud endoscopy system that enables image processing on the cloud. This cloud endoscopy system utilizes Olympus technology for endoscopes to perform image processing (which has been conventionally processed within the endoscopic equipment) on a remote cloud.
According to product literature, “NTT’s IOWN APN technology makes it possible to process images in real time on the cloud. Through this demonstration experiment, the two companies aim to establish a reference model for the commercialization of the cloud endoscopy system, overcome the current limitations of processing performance of endoscopic equipment, improve maintainability, and provide a flexible and rapid market response to the market.”
It’s expected that with increased future cases, the need will surge for flexible feature improvements and updates, such as real-time remote diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, according to NTT and Olympus, “There is discussion on cloud computing endoscopes, in which some functions with a high processing load, such as image processing, can be done in the cloud. By sharing the processing load with built-in data centers, users can receive the latest functions through software updates on the cloud and enable real-time remote diagnosis.”
The Olympus EVIS X1 Endoscopy System introduces a range of technologies that aim to revolutionize the way physicians can detect, characterize and treat gastrointestinal disorders.
According to Olympus, the system provides a combination of diagnostic and therapeutic innovations—alongside well-established technologies—to streamline and improve endoscopic procedures and scope handling.
The GI Genius endoscopy module from Medtronic detects colorectal polyps through enhanced visualization during colonoscopy. According to Medtronic marketing materials, the GI Genius module has been shown to increase adenoma detection rates by up to 14.4%.
The GI Genius intelligent endoscopy module helps the physician detect colorectal polyps of various sizes, shapes, and morphologies. The module has a 99.7% sensitivity rate and less than 1% false positives, according to Medtronic.
Gastrointestinal bleeding is a serious challenge, involving considerable mortality of 2%-10% and high management costs. Consequently, prevention of complications is crucial. According to Olympus, its RDI technology improves the visibility of bleeding points within the mucosa and enhances the visibility of deep blood vessels compared to white light.
Identification of bleeding spots through RDI technology makes hemostasis quick and easy, Olympus marketing materials state. Therefore, RDI technology may help to reduce stress and procedure time for emergency bleeding and endoscopic resection.
Ambu is offering a bronchoscope called the aScope 4 Broncho for airway inspection, BAL/BW and flexible bronchoscopic intubation. For more advanced critical-care procedures the aScope 5 Broncho HD is appropriate for: percutaneous tracheostomy, hemoptysis, cryotherapy, transbronchial biopsy and foreign-body removal.
Ambu is also providing new thin and ultrathin single-use bronchoscopes for “small anatomy” called the aScope
5 Broncho 4.2/2.2 and aScope 5 Broncho 2.7/1.2. The thin, single-use bronchoscope “is perfect for peripheral bronchoscopy procedures, features a regular-sized working channel, and is compatible with commonly used endotherapy instruments and active tools,” according to Ambu.
Precursor lesions are often tiny and far too easy to overlook. With that in mind, TXI technology from Olympus was designed to increase the visibility of potentially suspicious lesions and polyps by enhancing image color and texture during endoscopic screening.
Olympus marketing materials state that a trial published in Gastroenterology in October 2023 “revealed TXI technology significantly improves the adenoma detection rate (ADR) by 13.61%, and the rate of adenomas per colonoscopy (APC) ≥ 5mm in size, versus white-light endoscopy (WLE), highlighting its ability to support clinicians in identifying potential precancerous lesions and enhancing the quality of their colonoscopies.
“TXI technology is designed to emphasize image information by combining the three image-processing algorithms: brightness correction of the dark part of the image; color-difference expansion processing; and texture-component emphasis processing,” the marketing materials continue. “The incoming image is split, and the texture and brightness are enhanced before the separate images are merged back together. Additional color enhancements are made to define subtle tissue differences more clearly.”
Conclusion
The endoscopy industry has always been rife with innovation and is poised for continued inventiveness, driven by the need to improve diagnostic accuracy, treatment effectiveness, and accessibility of care. These advancements are expected to lead to more minimally invasive procedures, better patient outcomes, and a wider range of applications for endoscopy in the future. For endoscopy, the sky’s the limit!
