Hackensack University Medical Center Receives Funding to Provide Artificial Intelligence (AI)-Assisted Colonoscopy Technology to Underserved Communities

The only hospital in New Jersey to offer GI Genius™ intelligent endoscopy modules through Medtronic and Amazon Web Services (AWS) Health Equity Assistance Program

Hackensack University Medical Center is the only hospital in New Jersey – and the first in the tri-state area – to receive Medtronic’s GI Genius™ artificial intelligence, which is AI-assisted colonoscopy technology to low-income and underserved communities. The Medtronic and Amazon Web Services (AWS) Health Equity Assistance Program will fund the installation of GI Genius™ modules in the Outpatient Endoscopy and Surgery Department, plus training and ongoing support.

The GI Genius™ intelligent endoscopy module, authorized by the FDA in April 2021, detects colorectal polyps of varying shapes and sizes automatically in real-time which helps in the early detection of polyps.

Hackensack University Medical Center will receive GI Genius™ modules, which aim to increase screening and early detection to help prevent incidence of colorectal cancer in underserved communities who benefit from this type of cutting-edge technology that is often not available to them due to cost limitations. As the centerpiece of the program, GI Genius™ has demonstrated the ability to improve detection of colorectal polyps that can lead to CRC.

“For communities that historically have not availed themselves of colorectal cancer screening, the availability of GI Genius is a game-changer,” commented Rosario Ligresti, M.D., chief of the Division of Gastroenterology at Hackensack University Medical Center. “It’s a real door-opener not only to colonoscopy, but to high-quality colonoscopy. GI Genius™ is a major advance because of its ability to detect smaller and earlier precursor lesions in the colon, thereby enabling the removal of these lesions before they become cancerous. Moreover, with its AI-driven precision technology, GI Genius eliminates much of the variability between colonoscopists in detecting adenomas.”

At the discretion of their doctor, any patient having a screening colonoscopy can be screened with the assistance of GI Genius™ at no extra cost and the procedure is covered by all insurances.

In a 2020 prospective, randomized study, the addition of GI Genius™ to high-definition (HD) colonoscopy increased the absolute adenoma detection rate (ADR) by 14.4%, compared to HD colonoscopy alone, representing a 30% relative increase in ADR. For every 1% increase in ADR, patients’ risk of CRC decreases by 3%. In the 2020 study, GI Genius™ was also 50% more likely to detect multiple polyps and 53% more likely to detect polyps in the distal colon (the last part of the colon), compared to HD colonoscopy alone.

More recently, in a multi-center, international study in which participants underwent two same-day, back-to-back colonoscopies with or without GI Genius™, use of the technology resulted in an approximately two-fold reduction in the adenoma miss rate (AMR), mainly due to a decreased miss rate of flat and small lesions.

Learn more about colorectal surgery innovation at Hackensack University Medical Center.