Ion Robot for Lung Cancer Detection

Desert Regional Medical Center launches new robotic technology to assist physicians with lung cancer diagnosis

The Ion system can reach areas deep within the lung, allowing biopsies without incisions

Desert Regional Medical Center is the first hospital in the Coachella Valley to offer a new robotic system, called Ion, that allows physicians to reach more deeply into the lungs and potentially detect cancer at an earlier stage.

“I’m very pleased that Desert Regional has invested in this new system because it offers new options for our physicians and our patients,” said Ziad Tannous, MD, medical director of pulmonology and critical care medicine at Desert Regional. “Ion provides more reach and more precision than other tools we have had available. The system complements our robotic-assisted surgical program, enabling patients to receive some of the best care available for detecting and treating lung cancer – right here in Palm Springs.”

Ion is a robotic-assisted tool for minimally invasive biopsy inside the lung. Ion enables specially trained pulmonologists at Desert Regional the ability to obtain tissue samples from deep within the lung, addressing a challenging aspect of lung biopsy. It may also help patients avoid subsequent biopsies by helping enable a diagnosis through the samples obtained.

"Early detection is very important for any type of cancer, but especially for lung cancer, which is the No. 1 cause of cancer death in the United States,” said Elber Camacho, MD, medical director for the Comprehensive Cancer Center at Desert Regional. “If we can find cancer early – in Stage I – we have an 80 to 90 percent chance of a cure. Unfortunately, we do not often find lung cancer at the early stages.”

Dr. Camacho said the Ion system can be an important part of the process of diagnosing lung cancer. First, a patient who is at risk for lung cancer, should be screened using a low-dose CT scan, which is also available at Desert Regional Medical Center. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends annual screening for lung cancer in adults aged 50 to 80 years who have a 20 pack-year^* smoking history, and either currently smoke or have quit within the past 15 years. If the screening identifies a nodule in the lungs, then a biopsy may be done to determine if the nodule is cancerous. And that is where the Ion system comes into play.

“Ion allows us to reach small nodules that can be much harder to reach without the device,” said Dr. Shahriyar Tavakoli, MD, a pulmonologist who was the first physician to utilize the Ion robot at Desert Regional Medical Center. “The goal is to detect cancer when the nodule is small and has not spread to other parts of the body.”

The Ion device is a scope that is introduced through the patient’s trachea and into the lungs while the patient is sedated. The Ion device may avoid the need for a biopsy through an external incision, a procedure which has the additional risk of a collapsed lung.

Dr. Tannous said that the Ion system can be combined with endobronchial ultrasound and cone beam CT scan, both available at Desert Regional, to increase the accuracy of sampling suspicious lung lesions regardless of the size and location to confirm the diagnosis.

“This approach offers a very low chance of complications, and all can be done on an outpatient basis,” Dr. Tannous said. “A multidisciplinary team including pulmonologists, oncologists, radiologists and thoracic surgeons at Desert Regional Medical Center will offer diagnosis and treatment for any lung nodules and lesions encountered.”

^*One “pack-year” is defined as smoking the equivalent of one pack of cigarettes per day for one year. If a person smoked two packs a day for one year, that would equal two pack-years.