Publication date: Sep 15, 2025
At present, no commercially available endoscopic system is specifically designed for use in the battlefield, disaster relief, or unique environments with biosafety concerns. Therefore, this limitation stems from challenges such as limited portability, reliance on stable power, complex disinfection processes, and the risk of incomplete sterilization. To address these challenges, we developed a novel portable endoscopic system and evaluated its safety and effectiveness in both routine settings and specialized scenarios, including the global pandemic caused by a novel coronavirus, which represents an environment with biosafety concerns. After sample size calculation, 30 patients underwent esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) or colonoscopy using the YunSendo (the experimental group) and Olympus systems (the control group) in a randomized order. Operation time, image quality, operational performance, lesion detection, and safety were assessed. Ten emergency patients with suspected upper gastrointestinal bleeding received bedside treatment using the YunSendo system during the global pandemic caused by a novel coronavirus. Clinical outcomes in emergency endoscopic treatment were assessed. No significant differences were observed between the YunSendo and Olympus groups in terms of image quality, lesion detection, and overall procedural performance. YunSendo facilitated biopsy and colonic polyp removal; no adverse endoscopy events were reported. YunSendo successfully executed diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in emergencies, with no observed mortality at 1, 7, or 30 d, no rebleeding at 1 or 30 d, and no cross-infection rates. The performance of the YunSendo portable endoscopic system was comparable to the Olympus system in terms of key metrics, demonstrating its utility in urgent scenarios. This novel system is particularly promising for medical rescue and military missions and for addressing battlefield and biosafety concerns.
| Concepts | Keywords |
|---|---|
| Battlefield | Colonoscopy |
| Colonoscopy | Endoscopic procedures |
| Commercially | Field endoscopy |
| Coronavirus | Gastrointestinal bleeding |
| Olympus | Portable gastrointestinal endoscopy |
Semantics
| Type | Source | Name |
|---|---|---|
| disease | IDO | quality |
| drug | DRUGBANK | Pentaerythritol tetranitrate |
| disease | MESH | emergency |
| disease | MESH | bleeding |
| disease | MESH | colonic polyp |
| disease | MESH | infection |