DiagNodus Ltd. applications

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), largely comprising the two conditions, Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, is now emerging as a global health problem. It now affects about 6 million people in Europe and US, comprising up to 620,000 in the UK (IBD Standards UK, 2013 Update). The symptoms of diarrhoea, abdominal pain and bloody stool substantially affect the quality of life of sufferers, and complications can be life threatening.   IBD is also strongly associated with colorectal cancer development risk.

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer all over the world. About 1.8 million new CRC cases were diagnosed globally in 2018, mostly in developed countries. The incidence of colorectal cancer is increasing in line with the ageing population.  Early detection is key to successful treatment of the disease and related cost management. An efficient screening strategy is essential to detect the disease early, when it often does not produce symptoms. The currently available faecal occult blood test (FOBT) and faecal immunochemical test (FIT) are safe and inexpensive, but test sensitivities are limited, and the required stool collection is inconvenient. Screening colonoscopies are popular in the US, but they are expensive to perform, extremely invasive and can sometimes cause serious complications.