A study published in Gastroenterology & Hepatology depicted that compared to white-light imaging (WLI), the third-generation high-vision transnasal endoscopy utilizing texture and colour enhancement imaging (TXI) or narrow-band imaging (NBI) is beneficial to diagnose atrophy and intestinal metaplasia in people with gastritis. Mitsushige Sugimoto et al. aimed to investigate the endoscopic effectiveness of NBI, TXI, and WLI for the assessment of gastritis.

In this prospective randomized controlled trial, 60 subjects who underwent endoscopy were randomly divided on the basis of Helicobacter pylori infection status, sex and age into 2 groups: (a) WLI-NBI group (n=30), and (b) WLI-TXI group (n=30). A comparison of color variations was done between WLI and TXI or NBI utilizing International Commission on Illumination 1976 (L∗, a∗, b∗) colour space.

There were no profound differences between NBI and TXI in colour differences surrounding map-like redness, intestinal metaplasia, and atrophy. On the basis of the Kyoto classification of gastritis, the endoscopic scores for map-like redness, intestinal metaplasia, and atrophy were comparable between WLI and TXI. Intestinal metaplasia was identified by NBI at a remarkably higher rate when compared to WLI.

Additionally, TXI and NBI raise color differences around atrophy and intestinal metaplasia when compared to WLI. This boosts diagnostic efficacy and enhances risk stratification for gastric cancer. To detect map-like redness, NBI and TXI were not beneficial over WLI. Using ultrathin high-vision transnasal endoscopes, the detection rate and quality of the images have  considerably enhanced, concluded the study authors.