Ochsner Medical Center Offers Robotic-Assisted Option for Lung Biopsy

Ochsner Medical Center (Ochsner) is now offering patients a new, minimally invasive option for lung biopsy using the Ion endoluminal system—a robotic-assisted tool for bronchoscopic biopsy of the lung.

Ion is designed to address a challenging aspect of lung biopsy by enabling physicians to obtain tissue samples from deep within the lung. The Ion system features an ultra-thin, ultra-maneuverable catheter that navigates far into the peripheral lung, and compared to manual techniques, physicians have unprecedented stability and optimal precision necessary for biopsy.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in men and women in the United States. More people die of lung cancer than breast cancer, prostate cancer, and colon cancer combined. In 2021, an estimated 235,000 new cases of lung cancer will be diagnosed. For those most at risk, annual lung cancer screenings improve a patient’s lung cancer survival rate. If a nodule is found when it is small and has not yet spread, it is more likely to be successfully treated.

“Robotic bronchoscopy using the Ion system is a significant advancement in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with lung cancer, as it reduces the complication rate from the traditional diagnostic method from 20-25 percent to only one to three percent,” said Brian Pettiford, MD, MBA, FACS, thoracic surgeon, Ochsner Medical Center. “The Ochsner Cancer Institute, in collaboration with our surgical and pulmonology teams, work together to offer state-of-the-art lung cancer care to patients right here at home in Louisiana and across the Gulf South, proving each day that local patients do not have to travel for high quality cancer care.”

 

10/12/2021