Right now you are traveling through someone's colon, with every bend.

"These little lines here are the folds of the colon," says Thomas S. Forrest, MD. "Here is what they call a diverticulum, or a little out pouching in the colon."

Find out more about Thomas S. Forrest, MD, Alegent Health Immanuel Medical Center

The doctors are looking for signs that trouble could be lurking.

"Right there is a little polyp as we go by," says Dr. Forrest.

This is what doctors call a virtual colonoscopy. A revolutionary way to look for colon cancer. Gone are the scopes the sedatives and the downtime.  How does this work?

"The patient comes in. They lay down on the table," explains Dr. Forrest.

Just five minutes on the table, a quick scan from head to toe and Dr. Thomas Forrest goes to work.

Dr. Forrest says, "Most patients we can say,  your colon looks fine, and I will see you in five years. "

But in this case we need to take a closer look. The virtual colonoscopy gets its information from the standard CT scan.

"This is one of the patients that should have probably had screening earlier," says Dr. Forrest. "They have a colon cancer and then in their lung they have a nodule, which has probably spread that tumor into the lungs."

And the computer takes it from there. But the procedure isn't without its critics, especially those who are in the business of performing real colonoscopies. They question the accuracy of the computer generated fly-through.

"The old-fashioned way isn't getting it done. The reason is that patients aren't going for their exam. They estimate that less than 10 percent of people over 50 come in and get their colonoscopy done," says Dr. Forrest.

Dr. Forrest and this space age technology may be just what it takes to get more people in the door to look for a silent killer. Right now the virtual colonoscopy is used when the traditional colonoscopy does not work. Dr. Forrest says that the traditional screening for colon cancer is still the best.