Brandon Regional Hospital Touts GPS-Like Scope in Lung Cancer Fight

Fast becoming a standard in new cars and already a standard feature on most smartphones,  the GPS, or Global Positioning System, has become commonly known as the technology to use to pinpoint exact locations.

Transfer that technology into the medical world and with it comes what calls a “renewed hope in the prevention and early detection of cancer.”

More specifically, the hospital now offers Electromagnetic Navigation Bronchoscopy (ENB), “a scope that uses GPS-like technology to locate, biopsy and prepare to treat a lesion in the lung.”

According to a hospital spokesperson, Brandon Regional is the first hospital in Hillsborough County to offer in the fight against lung cancer the superDimension i·Logic System, a tool that “combines GPS-like technology with a catheter-based system that uses the patient’s natural airways to access leions that were previously hard to reach.”

“ENB is a revolutionary piece of technology in the prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of lung lesions,” Dr. Dragos Zanchi, a pulmonologist, said in the hospital release. “Not only does it allow us to biopsy a lesion less invasively and more timely, but it allows us to easily place markers in lesions that will require treatment with such tools as CyberKnife.”

He describes CyberKnife as a non-invasive treatment for cancerous and non-cancerous tumors that deliver concentrated doses of radiation to the legions, which in turn minimizes the effects of damage to surrounding tissues and organs.

With the newly acquired scope to treat lung cancer, physicians reportedly can biopsy legions with ease and place markers for planned treatment.

Without the scope, patients typically had one of four options: major surgery to remove a section of the lung, needle biopsy, watchful waiting or bronchoscopy, which reportedly does not reach lesions deep within the lung.

RELATED READING:

• What Does It Mean When You Have A Spot On Your Lung (spotonyourlung.com)

• Learn More About Lung Lesions And How The iLogic System May Help (superdimension.com)

• Lung Cancer (brandonregionalhospital.com)

• CyberKnife Zaps Tumors (brandonregionalhospital.com)