A guided broncoscope achieves biopsy of 75 percent pulmonary nodules without puncture ...( The release is available in Basic...),Health

The release is available in Spanish.

A broncoscope guided by means of electromagnetic navigation has managed to achieve the biopsy of 75% of pulmonary nodules greater than 2 cm, according to Doctor Luis Seijo, specialist in Pneumology at the University Hospital of Navarra. This is the hospital in the whole of Spain which has the greatest experience in the use of this novel device and which enables access to pulmonary lesions without recourse to surgery or transthoracic puncture, conventional techniques that increase risk for the patient.

The basics of navigator-guided broncoscopy is in accessing the interior of the bronchial tree of the patient and to the affected nodule(s). It is guided by a system which shows the position of the instrument used to carry out the biopsy in real time. In the case of the lung, the system is equipped with an electromagnetic probe, which acts as the guide. On reaching the nodule in question, the probe is substituted by a biopsy pincers or cytological needle, instruments that enable a sample of the lesion to be obtained. The procedure also facilitates sampling adenopathies or mediastinic ganglia that are of interest for analysis. At the University Hospital of Navarra this procedure, which can be carried out on a day-patient basis, is undertaken with the patient under sedation.

Basic planning

To initiate the broncoscopy it is necesary to plan the operation with the data previously obtained from a conventional thorax CAT scan. This information is transferred to a computer software programme which recreates the patients bronchial tree in a virtual manner.

With this graphical information the pneumologist can plan the operation in detail. The planning is a key stage in carrying out the procedure successfully. The specialist marks reference points on the computer images which will subsequently en
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