GPS, video game science help doctors detect, treat lung cancer

By Donna Vickroy dvickroy@southtownstar.com December 31, 2014 3:58PM

Dr. Kristopher McDonough, a pulmonologist on staff at Silver Cross Hospital. | Supplied photo

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New technology similar to the science behind video games and GPS is enabling doctors to better navigate the lungs and test small, hard to reach nodules without surgery.

Its very exciting, Dr. Kristopher McDonough, a pulmonologist on staff at Silver Cross Hospital, said. The New Lenox healthcare facility is one of a handful of medical centers in the Chicago area that offers electromagnetic navigational bronchoscopy (ENB). Others include University of Chicago and Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.

But, McDonough said, patients can expect to see more of this kind of technology in the near future.

The new method enables doctors to more easily navigate the maze of tubes inside the lungs, reaching suspicious masses inside those traditionally hard to access tiny bronchiole tubes in a minimally invasive way. McDonough said ENB provides a comprehensive program for the minimally invasive diagnosis of lung cancer.

The process begins with a virtual bronchography, which is a three-dimensional map of the inside of a patients airways.

Its like a road map, McDonough said.

During the procedure, the patient is put on top of a magnetic board. Markers are placed on the patients chest. A camera is inserted via a catheter through the patients mouth.

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GPS, video game science help doctors detect, treat lung cancer