Digital colposcopy offers a quantitative diagnostic approach. (Image Analysis, Storage).

BIG SKY, MONT. -- Digital colposcopy offers several significant advantages over conventional colposcopic examination, Dr. John L. Marlow said at an ob.gyn. update sponsored by the Geisinger Health System.

Conventional colposcopy is qualitative; comparisons of findings are made by the gynecologist. In contrast, digital colposcopy is quantitative. Digital images lend themselves to manipulation and analysis in novel ways, explained Dr. Marlow, who is one of the developers of digital colposcopy

For example, applying a green filter to a digital image emphasizes a lesion's vascularity which can reflect neoplasia or infection.

Software quickly measures a lesion's area and other dimensions, which can then be compared with images from earlier examinations retrieved on a computer screen, said Dr. Marlow, who serves as a consultant to Cooper Surgical, which markets several digital colposcopy systems.

"With a 19- or 20-year-old patient with a low-grade [squamous intraepithelial] lesion, I'm reluctant to put her through a [loop electrical excisional procedure] or other surgical ...