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Green Bay – Although 25 million Americans experience heartburn daily, many people with chronic heartburn don’t realize the connection between heartburn and cancer.
“Chronic heartburn can lead to the presence of still harmless, but precancerous cells,” said Dr. Chaitanya Pant, gastroenterologist at Prevea Health. “Now, we’re using an advanced diagnostic tool which is better at detecting these cells so they can then be treated in time to prevent their progression to esophageal cancer – one of the fastest growing cancers in America.”
Dr. Pant is the first in Green Bay to perform this breakthrough procedure called, WATS3D, which uses advanced technology and AI (Artificial Intelligence) to better detect precancerous cells in the esophagus.
Traditionally, a physician may perform only a biopsy to detect precancerous cells. During an endoscopy, the physician retrieves a small sample of tissue from the surface of the patient’s esophagus, which is then examined by a pathologist for the presence of cancer. While this method is still used, a biopsy, which only collects a small sample of tissue, may underestimate the presence of significant disease in the esophagus.
Now, in addition to biopsy, physicians can use WATS3D during endoscopy which uses a specially designed brush instrument to collect more tissue over a wider area of the esophagus and below-the-surface cells where abnormalities may be lurking. Once the tissue is collected, it is examined by the WATS3D Neural Network, which uses AI and 3-D imaging to scan and analyze every cell with greater accuracy and consistency. It is trained to detect abnormalities as a pathologist would and automatically selects the most suspicious cells for further analysis. Once complete in the Neural Network, results are further reviewed by a pathologist and the physician. Click here to see a simulation of how the WATS3D technology works.
“This tool has proven itself to help provide more protection for our patients, and that’s what we’re here for,” says Dr. Pant.
Dr. Pant and Dr. Mark Laukka,
gastroenterologist at Prevea Health, perform the WATS3D procedure at HSHS St. Vincent Hospital and HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center in Green Bay. For more information, please visit: https://www.prevea.com/For-Patients/Your-Wellness/Resources/WATS3D-esophageal-cancer-prevention
About Prevea Health
Founded in Green Bay, Wis. in 1996, Prevea Health is a health care organization that provides high-quality, primary and specialty health care in 80+ locations across Northern, Eastern and Western Wisconsin in clinic and hospital settings. It is partnered with six Hospital Sisters Health System (HSHS) hospitals across Wisconsin to provide patients a system of highly-coordinated care, close to home: HSHS St. Vincent Hospital and HSHS St. Mary’s Hospital Medical Center in Green Bay; HSHS St. Nicholas Hospital in Sheboygan; HSHS St. Clare Memorial Hospital in Oconto Falls; HSHS Sacred Heart Hospital in Eau Claire; and HSHS St. Joseph’s Hospital in Chippewa Falls. For more information, visit www.prevea.com.