Washington, An endoscope with a miniature ultrasound device on its tip to inject drugs directly into the tumour could be a safer, more effective approach to administering chemotherapy, since it allows doctors to avoid damaging normal tissues.

The technique combines endoscopy and ultrasound (EUS) to obtain the most accurate, high resolution images and information about the digestive tract and surrounding tissue and organs.

A more advanced version, called curvilinear EUS, allows doctors to operate within the gut while at the same time detect, biopsy and treat lesions and tumours that lie outside the intestinal wall. This technique is particularly useful in patients with pancreatic, esophageal and rectal cancer.

"Curvilinear endosonography will likely become the dominant technology within the field of EUS," said Robert Hawes, co-chairman of Endoscopic Ultrasonography meeting (EUS2008) in San Francisco. He is a professor at the Medical University of South Carolina.

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