Advances in endoscopic diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal diseases for next decade

In the last decade, we experienced a tremendous technological development in endoscopic diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal diseases including the development of image enhanced endoscopy, endoscopic submucosal dissection, submucosal tunnelling and 3^rd space endoscopy. The potential of diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy will be greatly enhanced by development of novel endoscopic technologies in future. Artificial intelligence is increasing apply in the process of diagnostic endoscopy through quality assurance, detection and characterization of GI pathology. In future, imaging will be enhanced by technological advances in illumination as well as molecular imaging.
Endoluminal treatment of gastrointestinal diseases significantly improves patients outcomes and quality of life when compared to surgical treatment. Currently, endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) is widely practiced for treatment of early GI cancers worldwide and extension of ESD to submucosal 3^rd space endoscopy successfully managed submucosal GI neoplasia. Endoscopy has become one of the most important modality in management of emergency GI conditions including bleeding, leakage and perforation In future, endoscopic technologies will be expected to manage functional GI disorders for example GERD and morbid obesity.
Innovative endoscopic devices and technological development will be essential in extending the horizon of diagnostic and therapeutic endoscopy including flexible robotics, nanorobotics and AI.