Newswise — UC Davis Health physicians have performed the first single-anesthesia diagnosis to treatment of lung cancer using a fully robotic approach in the UC Health System.

The procedure, known as robotic-assisted bronchoscopy, allows for the diagnosis and removal of a lung cancer mass during one surgery. It reduces anxiety and unnecessary waiting time for patients.

Interventional Pulmonology is one of six specialties in which UC Davis Medical Center offers minimally invasive, robotic-assisted technology. Others include gastrointestinal, cardiothoracic, gynecologic oncology, otolaryngology and urologic surgery.
“Innovations such as the robotic bronchoscopy platform are patient care at the absolute highest level, from diagnosis to treatment with a multidisciplinary team approach,” said Bahareh Nejad, medical director of Robotic Surgery. “As we continue to grow the UC Davis Robotics Program, the institutional support we have received has been instrumental. We are excited to facilitate more growth with robotic surgery to make patient treatment better and more efficient.”

Streamlining patient care

Traditionally, when a patient is diagnosed with a suspicious nodule or mass in their lung, they are referred to a pulmonologist, who may perform a lung biopsy to confirm if it is cancerous.

If the lung nodule or mass is confirmed to be cancer, the patient may be referred to a thoracic surgeon, who determines if it can be surgically removed. If it can, the patient undergoes another procedure on a separate day that requires additional anesthesia. On average, patients may wait up to three months from the time a nodule or mass is first discovered to when they receive a diagnosis and treatment.

“Waiting months between a biopsy and a diagnosis can be an emotionally difficult and exhausting experience for patients,” said Chinh Phan, director of the UC Davis Interventional Pulmonology Program. “By utilizing the robotic-assisted bronchoscopy platform we can help reduce the anxiety and unnecessary waiting times that patients traditionally experience.”

The robotic-assisted bronchoscopy procedure utilizes the Ion Endoluminal Platform by Intuitive. The high-tech system creates a 3D map of the patient’s lungs using a CT scan. The software then generates the safest and most efficient route through the lung to the nodule or mass. Once the route is determined, an ultrathin and ultra-maneuverable catheter is guided to the site of the lung nodule or mass, where it is marked and biopsied with precision and stability. Lymph nodes are also biopsied during the same procedure, using endobronchial ultrasound. The samples are then evaluated on-site.

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