Flagstaff Medical Center (FMC) is adding a robotic system to perform lung biopsies as part of an effort to increase early detection of lung cancer in northern Arizona.
The Ion System from Intuitive Surgical is a robotic bronchoscope designed to perform lung biopsies in small, hard to reach areas. A bronchoscopy is the name for a procedure where a tube with a camera attached is used to examine the inside of the lungs. Pulmonary and critical care physician Bethany Weiler, M.D., described the procedure as similar to “a colonoscopy for the lungs.”
A screen shows how the Ion System robotic bronchoscope would navigate to a suspicious nodule forming cancer in the outer periphery in the lung during an open house held at Flagstaff Medical Center on April 23.
Raven Commanda, a registered nurse at Flagstaff Medical Center (FMC), watches a model of a bronchial tree as a vision probe camera navigates through it during a demonstration of the new Ion System robotic bronchoscope during an open house held at FMC on April 23.
The new Ion System robotic bronchoscope is showcased during an open house held at Flagstaff Medical Center on April 23. The robot will help provide early diagnosis of lung cancer in Flagstaff.
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