Although both of these people are initially practiced as surgeons, today's gastroenterologists can thank the Japanese doctor Hiromi Shinya and his contribution to the medical field. Colonoscopy has become a common procedure used to diagnose and treat conditions of the gastrointestinal tract.
The life and career of Dr. Chigny
Born in 1935 in Junagawa, Japan. Hiromi Shinya graduated from medical school in 1960 and was selected to participate in an exclusive internship at the United States Naval Hospital in Yokosuka, a place requiring excellent English language skills. This paved his way to the United States, where he entered the residence in Beth Yisrael in New York as a general surgeon. Although he was a senior resident in the 1960s, he and cardiothoracic surgeon William Wolf began to collaborate on their common interest in a new fiber-optic endoscope technology, which they thought could improve screening of colon polyps and cancer.
Main development
In 1969, Shinya and Wolf performed some of the first modern colonoscopes. The advantage of this new method was its ability to inspect the entire length of the colon. Previously, intestinal polyps were observed only with the onset of painful symptoms and abdominal surgeries were required upon detection. A new procedure has eliminated much of the uncertainty associated with this medical problem. In addition, they perfected the technique so that only one doctor was needed for the colonoscopy, while the other methods required two.
In the end, they tested the design of Dr. Chigny, a tiny wire loop that could remove a polyp during the procedure, completely eliminating the need for surgery. The group conducted more than 2,000 procedures before publishing their results in the medical community, which they did in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1973. Gastroenterologists initially used this approach slowly, fearing that it was surgical, but by the 1980s, colonoscopy had become a widespread practice.
The importance of colonoscopy
Before the two doctors changed the landscape of this area of medicine, the danger of intestinal polyps was underestimated. Today, it is common knowledge among doctors that they often progress from small benign births to carcinomas or cancers. For this reason, many medical societies recommend screening at the age of 50, and then every ten years thereafter. It is currently the best tool to prevent colon cancer. It is estimated that every year this procedure prevents tens of thousands of new cases of cancer.
In addition to its use in the prevention and diagnosis of cancer, gastroenterologists in the United States use colon endoscopy to diagnose and monitor other GI tract diseases, primarily with irritable bowel disease, Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
A new enhancement to this type of exam is virtual colonoscopy, which uses computer visualization to show the results of a fully non-invasive scan. This method is still under development and testing, and it is not yet clear whether it will be able to supplant conventional colonoscopy in the future. Once the advanced development in itself, the work of Dr. Wolf and Dr. Chigny is now the standard for gastroenterologists and surgeons.
