By Jerome Hubbard and Kathy Engle
While away from home on a work trip to the Bay Area, Dr. Ellen Cunningham, a physician from New Jersey, found herself in a familiar but distressing situation: a painful flare-up of her ulcerative colitis, now complicated by a C. difficile infection. “I’ve lived with this disease for 30 years, but this was one of the worst I’ve had,” Dr. Cunningham says. “I was extremely uncomfortable and had already lost eight pounds over the past two months.”
Far from her regular care team, Dr. Cunningham turned to her network for help. A fellow physician and close friend connected her with Dr. Edward Huang, a gastroenterologist at Sutter Health’s Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF). Just two days after speaking with her, Dr. Huang had an appointment available — and a new, game-changing diagnostic tool ready: intestinal ultrasound (IUS).
“In the office, with no prep, no waiting, Dr. Huang showed me exactly where the inflammation was,” Dr. Cunningham says. “We made a treatment decision that day. I had no idea a diagnosis could be that simple.”
IUS is a noninvasive, 10-to-15-minute imaging test performed bedside to assess bowel inflammation in real time. Unlike colonoscopies, which require anesthesia, prep and recovery time, IUS delivers immediate information, helping doctors start or adjust treatment without delay. For patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), like Crohn’s or ulcerative colitis, the impact can be profound.
“The ability to quickly diagnose a problem for a patient is really the beauty of IUS,” Dr. Huang explains. “It removes delays and helps us intervene faster.”
Dr. Cunningham, who will soon travel to the Midwest, says her experience at PAMF left her encouraged and hopeful. “It was as easy as pie. Being able to access this level of care away from home made all the difference. I’ll definitely be looking for IUS-certified doctors while I’m in Chicago and ultimately at home in New Jersey.”
A 2024 Innovation Award, funded by generous community donors, made the introduction of IUS at PAMF’s Palo Alto and San Jose centers possible. This philanthropic investment covered both advanced training for Drs. Huang and Ryan McConnell, as well as the purchase of specialized equipment, positioning them as two of only a few gastroenterologists in California certified in IUS for adult patients.
“Thanks to donor generosity, we’ve been able to dramatically improve the diagnostic process for IBD patients,” says Dr. McConnell, associate medical director of IBD at PAMF. “This technology is already changing lives.”
Since launching IUS, PAMF’s GI team has performed multiple bedside ultrasounds each day, reducing unnecessary colonoscopies, easing patient anxiety, and delivering timely answers. Beyond individual cases like Dr. Cunningham’s, IUS also opens doors for future clinical trials and innovations in IBD care.
“Without philanthropic support, we wouldn’t be offering this,” Dr. Huang adds. “It’s helping us do more for patients when and where they need us most.”
You can be the reason a patient like Dr. Cunningham finds relief when it matters most. With generous donor support, our care teams can continue to expand access to cutting-edge tools like intestinal ultrasound – reducing unnecessary procedures and delivering real-time answers when patients need them the most.
To support more innovative work at Sutter Health, visit Sutterhealth.org/giving.
