How a star gets a colonoscopy; with AI

Right around the time Grammy-winning soul singer Anthony Hamilton was signing his first record deal, he was also signing up for his first colonoscopy.

Hamilton was in his mid-20s at the time, and digestion issues spurred him to seek medical care.

“Ever since then I’ve been really aware of how I feel, trying to live right and eat right and stay ahead of problems whenever I can,” he said. “Regular colonoscopies help me do that.”

Thirty years later, Hamilton has undergone many more colonoscopies and doctors have found polyps during several of them. But a colonoscopy in early 2025 came with a twist: his doctor Dr. Lanre Jimoh, used the Medtronic GI Genius™ system — an AI-powered tool that flags hard-to-spot polyps in real time.

“One of the polyps we found was pretty hard to see,” said Dr. Jimoh, a gastroenterologist at Carolina Digestive Health Associates in Charlotte, North Carolina. “But with the help of the GI Genius™ system, we were able to find it and others and removed them all. Everything went very well.”

The GI Genius™ system used in Hamilton’s procedure is like facial recognition technology for polyps. Trained on thousands of images, it uses artificial intelligence to spot what the human eye might miss.

"The technology is called ‘deep learning’ and it’s like pattern recognition on steroids,” said Dr. Ha Hong, Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer in the Medtronic Endoscopy business unit.

During an actual procedure, the system analyzes images from inside the colon and in real time highlights suspected polyps within a green box so doctors can take a closer look. That’s exactly what Dr. Jimoh saw during Hamilton’s checkup.

“We use a lot of AI-related technology in the music industry, and I’m a huge fan,” he said. “I never put AI and colonoscopies together in my head, but I’m glad it’s available and now I can move ahead with even more confidence than before.”

Are you interested in a GI Genius™ system colonoscopy? Check out Medtronic.com/Genius

Indications, Safety, and Warnings

GI Genius™ intelligent endoscopy module

Indications

GI Genius™ intelligent endoscopy module is a computer-assisted reading tool designed to aid endoscopists in detecting colonic mucosal lesions (such as polyps and adenomas) in real time during standard white light endoscopy examinations of patients undergoing screening and surveillance endoscopic mucosal evaluations. The GI Genius™ computer-assisted detection device is limited for use with standard white-light endoscopy imaging only. This device is not intended to replace clinical decision making.

Contraindications and warnings

GI Genius™ system is intended to be used as an adjunct to colonoscopy procedures and is not intended to replace endoscopist assessment or histopathological sampling. GI Genius™ system does not make any elaboration or alteration of the colonoscopy video streaming, it only overlays graphical markers.

Danger: Do not use this system for any purpose other than its intended use.

Danger: The system does not perform any diagnosis.

Caution: The sale, distribution, and the use of the GI Genius™ system are restricted to prescription use in accordance with 21 CFR 801.109.

Caution: The device is not intended to be used as a stand-alone diagnostic device.

Caution: The device is not intended to characterize lesions in a manner that would potentially replace biopsy sampling.

Caution: The device is not intended to replace clinical decision-making.

Caution: The device is not intended to be used with equipment that was not tested against it during validation activities.

Caution: The device has not been studied in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), history of CRC, or previous colonic resection. The device performance may be negatively impacted by mucosal irregularities such as background inflammation from certain underlying disease.

Caution: Users should be aware, when using automated systems such as the GI Genius™ that provide assistance in identifying suspicious lesions, that a high level of reliance may be placed on the system output, potentially leading to user complacency and a bias towards accepting the system output results, rather than using the device as intended. The device is intended to provide adjunctive information to the endoscopist who performs endoscopic evaluations with an expected high level of clinical expertise. Placing too much reliance on the system in this way may lead to an unacceptably low level of procedural oversight (situational awareness), sub-par evaluation of the patient, and eventual endoscopist skill degradation, following which retraining may be necessary.

Danger: Using incompatible equipment can result in patient injury or equipment damage and makes it impossible to obtain the expected functionality.

Risks

Electrical risks

Danger: Observe the following precautions. Failure to do so may place the patient and medical personnel in danger of electric shock. Keep fluids away from the system. If fluids are spilled on or into the system, immediately stop any operation of the system. If fluids are spilled on or into the system, immediately stop any operation of the system and contact support.

Danger: Do not use the system when not properly closed. Do not touch electrical contacts inside any component of the system.

Fire or explosion risks

Danger: In order to prevent fire and explosion, do not expose the system where:

There is a high concentration of oxygen

Air contains oxidizing agents (e.g., n2o)

Air contains any flammable gases

There are flammable liquids nearby

Interferences

Warning: System may interfere with other equipment.

Caution: Electromagnetic interference may occur to this instrument when it is placed near equipment marked with the following symbol electromagnetic interference symbol or other portable and mobile RF communications equipment such as cellular phones. If radio interference occurs, mitigation measures may be necessary, such as reorienting or relocating this instrument or shielding the location. Do not use GI Genius™ system and its cables closer than 30 cm (12 inches) to the equipment with the following symbol electromagnetic interference symbol.

Electromagnetic fields

Warning: Do not use the system where there is a strong electromagnetic field (e.g., magnetic resonance, wireless devices, microwave-emitting devices).

Mechanical forces

Caution: While pressing buttons or touching the system, do not use hard or pointed objects or apply excessive force otherwise damage to the equipment will occur.

Connection and disconnections

Caution: Do not connect/disconnect any cable of the system while any component is powered on, otherwise damage to the equipment will occur. 

Risk information

GI Genius™ intelligent endoscopy module is intended to be used as an accessory to colonoscopy procedures and is not intended to replace endoscopist assessment or histopathological sampling. The system does not perform any diagnosis and is not intended to be used as a stand-alone diagnostic device. The device has not been studied in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), history of colorectal cancer, or previous colonic resection. The device performance may be negatively impacted by mucosa! irregularities such as background inflammation from certain underlying diseases. Use of GI Genius™ intelligent endoscopy module during colonoscopy may present risks related to identification of lesions. Risk of identification of a false lesion may result in unnecessary patient treatment, or failure to identify a lesion resulting in delayed patient treatment. All medical procedures carry risks. Please refer to your physician for more information about procedure risks related to colonoscopy and those related to GI Genius™ intelligent endoscopy module.