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 Endoscopy Center
The Hawthorn Endoscopy Center is an outpatient care center designed specifically for endoscopy and colonoscopy procedures. We offer the highest level of quality, technology, comfort and convenience for patients having endoscopic gastrointestinal (GI) procedures.
The facility is accredited by the Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care. This voluntary process allows us to measure the quality of our staff, services, equipment and safety codes against nationally recognized standards.
The Center's specialized staff includes board-certified gastroenterologists who are practicing the most current endoscopic techniques—Dr. Edward Herlihy, Dr. James Tracey, Dr. James Hoffman, Dr. Emma Bell-Wynter, and Thomas Vallone, DO.
The procedures performed at the Endoscopy Center are done on an outpatient basis in our modern endoscopy suites. Each has the state-of-the-art equipment needed to perform a full range of diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy procedures.
Endoscopy refers to viewing the digestive tract (such as esophagus, stomach, small intestine, rectum or colon) with a video camera. Endoscopic procedures provide important information that helps physicians diagnose and treat a variety of conditions and illnesses, including ulcers, intestinal bleeding, tumors and polyps.
The two most common types of endoscopic procedures are:
High-definition television (HDTV) is making its way into health care. Now, Hawthorn Medical Associates is among the first in the area to introduce the HDTV technology as part of a new endoscope platform. This system helps physicians better diagnose diseases in the upper and lower gastrointestinal tract during procedures such as colonoscopy.
Compared to conventional systems, high-definition endoscopy, combined with Narrow Band ImagingTM, provides physicians with sharper images and better contrast. This in turn, helps them to better detect lesions during examinations when using the wide-angle colonoscope. The new system can also shorten procedure times for patients.
The EVIS EXERA IITM from Olympus is the world's first endoscope platform that delivers both HDTV and Narrow Band Imaging (NBI) technologies. With this equipment, Hawthorn physicians have enhanced observation capabilities. The equipment has also been shown to reduce overall procedure time when used with a new wide-angle scope.
"Hawthorn's Endoscopy Center has always been committed to having the latest equipment for endoscopy and colonoscopy procedures," says James P. Tracey, MD, Gastroenterologist. "This new technology is remarkable. Details and structures not visible before are now clear and sharp images. Our physicians have found it to be extremely beneficial in diagnosis."
The HDTV signal from the endoscope platform's video processor is
designed to produce an impressive 1080 lines of resolution, more than twice the number of scan lines used by conventional systems, offering doctors breathtaking images of the colon with a high level of detail and color. NBI is a new image processing technique that takes advantage of the scattering and absorption properties of human tissue, thereby improving visual contrast on mucosal surfaces during endoscopic observation of the GI tract. The result is remarkably clear views of anatomical structures and fine capillary patterns of colon surfaces, which are normally difficult to distinguish.
According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths for men and women combined in the U.S. The ACS also points out that the 5-year survival rate for people whose cancer was treated in an early stage, before it has spread, is greater than 90%.
The ACS recommends that beginning at age 50, both men and women should be screened for colon and rectal cancer. People with risk factors, such as a personal history of colorectal cancer or adenomatous polyps or a strong family history of colorectal cancer or polyps, should talk to their doctor about starting screening earlier and/or undergoing screening more often. American Gastroenterological Association American College of Gastroenterology National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance American Cancer Society
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