New Robotic Technology at Doylestown Hospital to Diagnose Lung Cancer Earlier

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths. But when diagnosed at the earliest stage, known as stage IA-1, the average five-year survival rate is 92%, according to a study in the journal Chest.

Early-stage lung cancer can be challenging to diagnose because the tissue samples need to come from hard-to-reach areas deep within the lung. As an answer, our hospital is now offering a minimally invasive robotic-assisted bronchoscopy procedure to reach smaller, earlier-stage nodules.  

What Is It?

Called the Ion Endoluminal System, it is a robotic-assisted platform for minimally invasive biopsy in the lung. The system, manufactured by Intuitive, features a thin, moveable catheter that allows navigation far into the peripheral lung, reaching smaller nodules and allowing for more precise biopsies. Because of its precision, Ion may also help patients avoid subsequent biopsies.

How it Works

During bronchoscopy with Ion, the physician uses a controller to navigate a camera-equipped catheter to the target along a computer-generated path. The catheter can move 180° in any direction to pass through small, difficult-to-navigate airways and around tight bends to reach all 18 segments of the lung.

Once the catheter reaches the lung nodule, a flexible biopsy needle and other biopsy instruments pass through it, even when positioned in twisted airways. Then, the biopsy instruments deploy into the target location on a straight path.

The technology allows physicians to locate, biopsy, and mark nodules for surgical resection in one procedure.

Putting it Into Practice

Pulmonologist Carlos Sotelo, who led the effort to secure the Ion technology, is excited to be using it. “Robotic bronchoscopy is a novel technology introduced in 2018 and has revolutionized our approach to small peripheral lung nodules, making them much more reachable. At Doylestown Hospital, we are privileged to have incorporated this to our service in creating the best robotic platform for the benefit of our patients,” he says.

Dr. Sotelo was pleased to see Doylestown Hospital’s readiness and response to starting the robotic bronchoscopy program. “I asked our hospital in March 2022 to acquire Ion, so we could be able to biopsy peripheral lung nodules that are unreachable by standard bronchoscopy. We were thrilled to get our robot six months later,” he says. “Ion’s unique shape-sensing technology — not depending on electromagnetic signals like other navigational platforms — improves diagnosis.”

Candidates for robotic bronchoscopy are patients with peripheral lung nodules suspicious for lung cancer, which otherwise could not be reached with standard radial bronchoscopy, Dr. Sotelo explains.

The first cases using the Ion robotic technology were performed in October 2022 at Doylestown Hospital and more are planned. Dr. Sotelo hopes that by using the new technology and its wide-reaching capabilities, Doylestown Health “will become a center of excellence in robotic bronchoscopy and other interventional procedures.”

The Ion robotic-assisted bronchoscopy system complements our robotic-assisted da Vinci surgical program, enabling our interventionalists and surgeons to perform minimally invasive care — from biopsy to surgery — at our hospital.

• For more information on minimally invasive bronchoscopy at Doylestown Hospital, contact Bucks County Medical Associates at 215.348.1310 or visit DoylestownHealth.org.