New noninvasive tool may allow early detection of dangerous intestinal disease in preemies

A new noninvasive technology, called broadband optical spectroscopy (BOS), has promise for reliably detecting necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) in premature infants at earlier stages, before this devastating intestinal disease progresses enough to be visible on X-rays, according to a first-in-human study from Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago published in the Journal of Pediatric Surgery.