Tissue resonance interaction accurately detects colon lesions: a double-blind pilot study

AIM: To investigated the performance of The Tissue Resonance Interaction Method (TRIM) for the non-invasive detection of colon polyps and cancers. METHODS: We performed a prospective single-center blinded pilot study of 281 consecutive adults (mean age 59 ± 13 years; 107 males) undergoing colonoscopy at the University Hospital in Sassari, Italy. Before patients underwent colonoscopy, they were examined by TRIM which detects differences in electromagnetic properties between pathological and normal tissues. A hand-held probe was moved over the abdomen and variations in electromagnetic signals were recorded for 3 spectral lines (462–465 MHz, 930 MHz, and 1395 MHz). Abnormal signals were identified and recorded as malignant or benign (adenoma or hyperplastic polyps). Findings were compared with those from colonoscopy with histologic confirmation. RESULTS: The TRIM detected and accurately characterized all 12 adenocarcinomas and 135/137 polyps (98.5%) including 64 adenomatous (100%). The method identified cancers and polyps with 98.7%, sensitivity, 96.2% specificity, and 97.5%, diagnostic accuracy, compared to colonoscopy and histology analyses. The TRIM identified lesions with a 96.7% positive predictive value and with 98.4% negative predictive value. There were no adverse events. The main limitations of the TRIMprob system is the need for trained operators. CONCLUSIONS: The study confirmed that TRIM provides a rapid, accurate, convenient and noninvasive mean to identify individuals most likely to benefit from colonoscopy. Future research includes development of software to analyze the images to reduce the need for highly trained operators as well testing whether a bowel prep is needed prior to TRIM screening