What is a Virtual Colonoscopy?
There’s no way around it, a colonoscopy is unpleasant but a necessary part of maintaining your health. It’s an endoscopic exam of your colon and the distal part (the end) of the intestines using a CCD or fiber optic camera passed through the anus. It’s not fun, for obvious reasons, which is why the popularity of “virtual colonoscopies” have increased in recent years.
Rather than directly visually inspecting the colon and intestines, a virtual colonoscopy is a CT scan (or CAT scan) of the inspection areas. It’s non invasive, requires no sedation, and uses x-rays to create a detailed picture. The non-invasive nature makes it very appealing but the downside is that you are subjected to radiation, the x-rays, so repeated exposure can increase your risk of cancer.
