McLaren Oakland, the 318-bed hospital in Pontiac serving all of Oakland County, is among the first in the U.S. to offer an advanced technology to diagnose lung cancer earlier and more accurately.
In a minimally invasive procedure, the Monarch Platform can view into the lungs deeper than previous procedures, allowing for the biopsy of smaller, harder-to-reach nodules in this peripheral tissue, resulting in earlier and more accurate lung cancer diagnosis.
“Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, in part because it has no symptoms in its early stages,” says Dr. Timothy Kasprzak, chief medical officer at McLaren Oakland.
“Because the Monarch Platform provides improved reach, vision, and control for bronchoscopic procedures, it holds potential to help us to make a diagnosis earlier. We are excited about the promise of this technology to offer a more hopeful future for our patients with lung cancer.”
The technology recently achieved clearance by the Food and Drug Administration, making McLaren Oakland one of the first hospitals in the country with this advanced technology, which will be under the direction Dr. David Sternberg, a thoracic surgeon with the Karmanos Cancer Institute at McLaren Oakland.
It integrates the latest advancements in robotics, software, data science and endoscopy, the use of small cameras and tools to enter the body through its natural openings, utilizes a familiar controller-like interface that physicians use to navigate the flexible robotic endoscope to the periphery of the lung with improved reach, vision, and control.
The Monarch Platform combines traditional endoscopic views into the lung with computer-assisted navigation based on 3D models of the patient’s specific lung anatomy and provides physicians with continuous bronchoscope vision throughout the entire procedure.
While the most common form of cancer worldwide, more than 90 percent of people diagnosed with lung cancer do not survive the disease, in part because it is often found at an advanced stage.
Patients at risk for lung cancer should talk to their primary care physician about a referral for a low-dose CT lung screening, which identifies lung cancer in its earliest forms.
Learn more at http://mclaren.org/oaklandlungscreening.
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