Autofluorescence endoscopy

Autofluorescence endoscopy is a wide area imaging technique, with the ability to rapidly examine a large surface area of gastrointestinal mucosa to detect small areas of dysplasia or cancer. It has potential in diseases such as Barrett's esophagus, ulcerative colitis, and gastric cancer, in which large areas of mucosa may harbor areas of dysplasia or superficial cancer not visible on conventional or high-definition white-light endoscopy. Autofluorescence endoscopy technology has evolved from fiberoptic to video technology with a marked improvement in image quality. Although fiberoptic autofluorescence endoscopy seems to provide no advantage over conventional white-light imaging, videobased technology, especially if combined with narrow band imaging, offers great promise for enhancing endoscopic surveillance of Barrett's esophagus. However, for this technology to have future clinical applications, image quality still needs to be improved and the false positive rate needs to be decreased further. Autofluorescence technology detects indirect measures of dysplasia and carcinoma, and is nonspecific, so additional enhancements are clearly desirable.