At the Southside Franciscan Health Cancer Center, doctors may be looking at the future of diagnosing and treating lung cancer.
The Monarch, a camera-based technology from Auris Health, can go inside the outer branches of a patient’s lungs and get clearer pictures than previous technology. It consists of a miniature camera at the end of a flexible tube, known as a scope. Doctors can use a video game controller that’s programmed to direct the tube’s movement in the patient’s lungs.
The technology has almost a 100 percent accuracy rate in reaching lesions in the lungs and determining if they are malignant, pulmonologist Dr. Faisal Khan said. Franciscan is the only hospital in Indiana to use the technology and is one of 20 in the country that has access to it, he said.
“Basically, this system allows us to more accurately reach the anatomy of the lungs,” Khan said. “It splits into tree branches, and a regular bronchoscope can’t go beyond a certain point; it’s not narrow enough. This system is more accurate in maneuvering and reaching the outer edges of the lung. That being said, the second advantage is, as you navigate to the deeper tissue of the lung, the system is very precise in where it goes.”
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Doctors have used the technology on more than 10 patients since the Monarch arrived at the hospital earlier this summer, and in each case, the camera has gotten to its target and doctors have been able to determine if tissue is cancerous. Overall, doctors can expect to reach problematic tissue that might form nodes or lesions about 95% of the time, compared to 70 to 80% of the time using older technology, Khan said.
The Monarch is part of a multistep process doctors use to identify and treat cancer. Before using the Monarch, doctors take a CT scan to spot any clumps of tissue that might be malignant. Once doctors see where that tissue is, they can go inside the lungs with the Monarch.
The monitor displays video from the camera as it explores the lungs. Doctors also have a virtual map of the lungs that shows where the camera is in the patient’s body, Khan said.
When they reach the tissue, doctors can use forceps attached to the scope to grab tissue for testing. Doctors then look at the tissue under a microscope and can determine if it is cancerous. If it is cancerous and widespread, radiation or chemotherapy would be possibilities for treatment. If it’s limited to a certain location in the lungs, doctors might be able to surgically remove it instead, said Hollynn Lobsiger, director of ambulatory, surgical and endoscopy services at Franciscan Health — Indianapolis.
Having the technology can help doctors increase patients’ access to better care, she said.
“We need it in the community,” Lobsiger said of the Monarch. “A lot of people in the community are smokers, and they have lesions in their lungs. This can help patients that otherwise couldn’t get treatment. Lung cancer is under-treated. We need to break the stigma and be the shift.”
In order to use the Monarch, Khan and nurse Janet Knobeloch went to San Francisco for training. “We’ve been really excited and taken aback that some of the spots we went after we wouldn’t even attempt to find in an older system,” Khan said.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women, according to the American Cancer Society.
