John C. Lincoln Hospital first to use commercially-available LungPoint system

Broncus Technologies, Inc., a medical device company focused on developing minimally-invasive innovations for lung diseases, announced today at the American College of Chest Physicians CHEST 2009 meeting that John C. Lincoln Hospital in Phoenix is the first hospital in the U.S. to use the commercially-available LungPoint system. This computer-assisted image-guided navigation system helps bronchoscopists navigate the lung airways through pre-procedure mapping and visual guidance during bronchoscopy.

"This is an exciting technology because finding an appropriate route through the lung airways to distant targets has long been a challenging aspect of bronchoscopy," explained pulmonologist J. Burr Ross, MD. "Since I've been using the LungPoint system I've found it helps reduce the time it takes to plan and complete bronchoscopic procedures while at the same time improving my ability to reach a target. By improving accuracy we expect that this system will help patients avoid more invasive surgical procedures."

Analogous to navigation systems used for driving, the LungPoint system allows physicians to select destinations and see the routes to get there. With this application the "destination" is a suspicious lung nodule or other abnormality in the lung and the "streets" are the lung airways. Once the best possible route is selected, the LungPoint system presents an animation of what the journey through the airways to the nodule will look like, providing physicians with a full visual guide to the biopsy destination.

The LungPoint system also provides tools for the physician to use in reviewing the case with the patient. "Patients really appreciate being able to see exactly the areas in their own lungs that I am concerned about. Reviewing the pathway through the lungs helps the patient understand the procedure they are about to undergo and puts them at ease," states Dr. Ross.

Dr. Ross continues, "When a bronchoscopic exam is unsuccessful, repeat procedures are often necessary or the patient is referred for an invasive procedure such as surgery just to get a biopsy or diagnosis. Our ultimate goal is to improve the success of our bronchoscopic procedures and reduce the need for patients to have to undergo additional surgical procedures."