Concentration fills the operating room, high-resolution images can be seen on several screens, the camera view penetrates deep into the finest branches of the bronchial tree, while a so-called digital twin – the personalized 3D plan of a lung – provides guidance. Dr. Joanna Krist, Senior Pulmonary Physician in Heckeshorn Lung Clinic at Helios Hospital Emil von Behring in Berlin, is looking at her control panel. With a steady hand, she guides an ultrathin, flexible catheter deep into the airways of her 59-year-old patient. He has been a heavy smoker all his life, now there is a suspicion of lung cancer. Krist follows the virtual path of the catheter on the central navigation monitor – bright blue glowing lines show her the course to the destination point: a tiny shadow in the lung tissue. A small tissue sample, which she will take shortly, should now provide certainty.
What sounds like a high-tech future has long been reality: Doctors at the highly specialized Helios lung cancer centers in Berlin and Wiesbaden are already setting new standards in the early diagnosis of disease with the robot-assisted “Ion endoluminal system” for bronchoscopy.
What you should know about lung cancer
Lung cancer remains the most common cause of cancer-related deaths in Germany and one of the most dangerous oncological diseases of all. Around 45,000 people in the country die of it every year – because the disease is often only diagnosed at an advanced stage. “The problem is that in the early stages, lung cancer causes hardly any symptoms or even discomfort, so it is usually discovered late – often when metastases are already present and treatment is no longer possible,” explains Prof. Dr. Tim Hirche, Director of the Clinic for Pulmonology at Helios HSK Wiesbaden.
The Ion system marks a turning point here. “The new robotic system for bronchoscopy is a game changer,” says Dr. Krist. “We can use it to get to the deepest lung tissue and can even reach millimeter-sized suspicious nodules – so-called coin lesions – and take samples. This has not been possible with endoscopy until now.”
Her colleague, Prof. Hirche, adds: “Ion enables us to give our patients certainty much earlier – and thus often offer them the chance of treatment. It is a real paradigm shift in the field of pulmonology.” The Ion system combines robotics, imaging techniques, and interdisciplinary medical expertise in a hitherto unparalleled manner. Find out more in the box.
Certified by the German Cancer Society, the Helios lung cancer centers in Berlin and Wiesbaden are among the first hospitals in Germany to use the robotic system for regular patient care. The technology also has scientific support at both Helios sites, with patients suitable for the procedure also being able to participate in studies.
From diagnosis to therapy
If the suspicion of lung cancer is confirmed after the examination, an interdisciplinary network immediately comes into play at Helios. Lung specialists, thoracic surgeons, oncologists, and radiologists get together on the tumor board to discuss the individual treatment plan. “Depending on the stage, this treatment can range from minimally invasive surgery in one of our two robotics centers to radiation therapy and chemotherapy or immunotherapy,” says Prof. Dr. Torsten Bauer, Chief Pulmonology Physician in Heckeshorn Lung Clinic at Helios Hospital Emil von Behring.
“The precise diagnostics using the robotic system enables us to start treatment much earlier,” stresses the specialist. With the new procedure, physicians are moving a step closer to the goal of diagnosing lung cancer earlier, less invasively, and more precisely – before symptoms even appear. For patients, this means a much lower risk, less stress, less uncertainty – and, ideally, an opportunity to gain crucial time for early treatment.
Further information
The Ion endoluminal system is a robot-assisted bronchoscopy system that allows physicians to safely reach even tiny changes in the lung tissue. Before the actual procedure – bronchoscopy – the planning software creates a detailed 3D model – the digital twin – on the basis of the CT scan carried out in advance. This makes it possible to work out the optimal pathway to the suspicious site – in a similar way to a GPS or a navigation system.
During the examination, which is carried out under anesthesia, the highly flexible catheter, equipped with sensors and a camera, is inserted into the bronchi via a breathing tube and guided with millimeter precision. At the same time, the medical practitioners also check its position with the help of state-of-the-art scanning technology – a so-called cone beam CT. Thanks to precise real-time imaging, even the smallest coin lesions can be reached with pinpoint accuracy. Tissue samples can then be taken and analyzed in a procedure that is less invasive for the patient, with a lower risk of complications than with previous procedures.