Physicians at Del Sol Medical Center are improving lung cancer outcomes through early detection, a feat made possible by Electromagnetic Navigation Bronchoscopy™ (ENB).
Del Sol Medical Center recently became the first, and currently only, hospital in El Paso to acquire a superDimension™ navigation system with LungGPS™ technology. On Dec. 4, 2015, at Del Sol Medical Center, Hector Payan, M.D., a private pulmonologist, performed El Paso’s first ENB™ procedure.
The minimally invasive ENB™ procedure aids with earlier diagnosis for patients with lung lesions, so those with cancer can get treated as soon as possible, and patients with benign conditions can potentially avoid surgery.
With the superDimension™ technology, CT scan images are used to create a roadmap of the thousands of tiny pathways inside the lungs. The LungGPS™ technology provides that roadmap to physicians who then guide tiny tools through the lung pathways so they can take tissue samples of the lesion and place markers for future treatment.
This new method allows Dr. Payan to sample smaller lesions in the lung without surgery or a needle biopsy so patients experience a greater level of comfort and ease than traditional methods of lung cancer detection.
According to the American Cancer Society, lung cancer accounts for more deaths than any other cancer in men and women. With early detection, 85 percent of cancers can be found in the earliest, more curable stage.
The El Paso Times recently shared an article about the procedure.