Last week, Israel’s GI-View announced that it received clearance from the US Food & Drug Administration for its flagship Aer-O-Scope Colonoscope System, an advanced system for colorectal cancer screening.

The disposable device already has the CE mark in Europe, and will be introduced in the US market in early 2016.

Colorectal cancer is the second biggest cause of cancer death in most of the Western world, killing more than 500,000 people annually. But it can almost always be prevented by early detection and removal of polyps, which if left untouched can develop into colorectal cancer over five to 10 years.

ISRAEL21c included the Aer-O-Scope on its list of “Top 12 most amazing Israeli medical advances” in October 2013, because of its potential to make lifesaving colonoscopy screenings cheaper, safer, more accurate and more accessible worldwide.

Aer-O-Scope device is safer and more accurate.

“Aer-O-Scope is the only colorectal screening product that is single use, self-propelled and has 360-degree omni-directional visualization,” said Dr. Tal Simchony, CEO of GI-View. “This enables the physician to observe all the mucosa of the colon, including behind folds, which is critical for a complete colonic assessment. If a polyp is there, Aer-O-Scope will allow the physician the best possible chance of finding it.”

The device has a soft multi-lumen tube designed to significantly reduce pressure on the colon wall, which increases patient safety. The patented system is joystick-controlled for ease of use, and is disposable so there is no risk of disease transmission.

Ramat Gan-based GI-View just closed a $13 million financing round from internal investors including Israel HealthCare Ventures, Ziegler Meditech Equity Partners and Kemper Insurance, and will start a $20 million round through outside investors, earmarked for commercialization expenses.