St. Tammany Health System’s robotic surgical fleet just got a noteworthy new addition.
STHS leadership recently purchased and put into service an Ion bronchoscopy system, a minimally invasive robotic-assisted platform designed to aid pulmonologists during lung biopsies.
According to Dr. Ricardo Blanco, a pulmonologist with STHS’s Northlake Pulmonary Associates who has been using the Ion system since May, the Ion robotic system is unique in the way it marries computer-generated virtual bronchoscopy imagery – acquired through a pre-procedure CT of the chest – with live bronchoscopy. Those two images are then integrated in a split screen that helps physicians navigate to any site in the lung.
The end result is a smooth and accurate procedure that Dr. Blanco characterized as “a game-changer.”
“It gives us he potential to make earlier diagnoses of suspicious lesions that, if confirmed as cancer, can lead to a better prognosis and potentially prolong survival,” he said.
That’s particularly true when the Ion is used in concert with a radiological tool called cone beam computed tomography. The cone beam technology produces three-dimensional imagery that helps a surgeon make ultrafine adjustments while zeroing in on even the smallest lesions.
St. Tammany Health System is one of only four Louisiana care providers using the Ion system and one of only two using it in tandem with cone beam CT.
“It’s an amazing improvement in technology,” Dr. Blanco said. “This is the state of the art in terms of diagnostic bronchoscopy, and with the availability of cone beam CT during the procedure, puts our institution at the leading edge when it comes to pulmonary diagnostic tools.”
To date, the procedure has been used in about 30 cases at St. Tammany. By all accounts, it has performed beautifully.
“There’s no doubt that this is absolutely the way to go from now on,” said Dr. Blanco, who credited the health system’s entire lung cancer team for the device’s early successes at STHS. “There’s no doubt from me or anyone in our practice. We have no reservations.”
The Ion is only the latest robotic-assisted surgical device to be put into service at St. Tammany Health System, which in 2007 established the first robotics institute along the Interstate 12 corridor. Others include:
- Three DaVinci robotic systems, which are used to assist in pelvic, thoracic and general surgery.
- A Stryker Mako system, which aids orthopedic surgeons in total knee and hip replacements.
- A Velys system, also used in knee replacements.
- A Modus V robotic microscope with BrightMatter technology, designed to assist neurosurgeons in brain and spine surgeries.
- A Globus Excelsius GPS unit, also designed to assist neurosurgeons in spine surgeries.
Learn more about each of these systems at StTammany.health/robotics.
Lung screenings save lives. Learn more about this easy, quick and painless process, including how you can get one, at StTammany.health/lung.