Tri-City Medical Center has introduced robotic-assisted bronchoscopy using the Ion Robotic system, enabling earlier and more precise lung cancer diagnosis. This minimally invasive procedure allows physicians to biopsy lung tissue in areas previously difficult or impossible to reach.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. According to Dr. Marius Viseroi, a board-certified pulmonologist and critical care medicine specialist at TCMC, lung cancer survival rates are significantly higher when the disease is detected at stage I or II, while the tumor is still small and confined to the lung.
Historically, physicians have been limited in their ability to safely access and biopsy very small nodules located deep in the peripheral lung. As a result, many patients were diagnosed at advanced stages—III or IV—after the cancer had spread, leading to poorer survival outcomes. In many cases, doctors had to wait for nodules to grow larger before they could be biopsied safely.
With robotic-assisted bronchoscopy, pulmonologists can guide an ultra-thin, flexible catheter through the patient’s mouth and airway to reach even the smallest nodules deep in the lung’s tiny branches, called bronchioles.
