New Imaging Techniques Detect Lung Cancer

In addition, scientists at another institution have been using micro-coils to target potentially cancerous lung nodules, which has proven effective in both diagnosing and treating lung cancer.

Lung disorders are usually diagnosed by x-ray, with computed tomography (CT) scans utilized to identify more elusive lung nodules, and biopsies to determine if lung nodules are cancerous. Since lung nodules are very hard, they are rather easy to identify with the fingers during surgery. However, the size of the incision and the hands of the surgeon feeling around inside the collapsed lung make it an especially invasive procedure. And if the surgeon's hands are big, the incision may become quite large.

Researchers at the Robarts Research Institute (London, Canada) have modified a laparoscopic ultrasound probe for a less-invasive penetration of the chest wall to locate lung nodules. Their goal was to reduce or even eliminate the time surgeons spend in the operating room feeling around inside the lung. The probe is fitted at the end with a transducer the researchers designed and is inserted through a narrow opening in the wall of the chest. The transducer is then rotated continuously to localize and generate near real-time 3D images of potentially cancerous lung nodules.

Utilizing software developed at Robarts, the surgeon then takes 2D ultrasound images and actually compiles them to get a 3D image. Therefore, instead of seeing individual 3D sections, the surgeon can see an object in 3D in its entirety. Surgeons at Vancouver General Hospital (Canada) have developed a method by which a radiologist using a CT scanner implants a very small platinum radiographic micro-coil into the patient's lung before entering the operating room. A fluoroscope is then used to visualize the micro-coil on an x-ray, and then an end-stapler is used to take out the micro-coil along with the lung nodule. If it is malignant, the surgeons will proceed with minimally invasive surgery, such as video-assisted thoroscopic lobetectomy, to remove the lobe of the lung containing the nodule.

At Vancouver General Hospital, surgeons have successfully used micro-coils in combination with video-assisted thoracic surgery on 25 patients. Before the use of this method, approximately two-thirds of the hospital's lung cancer patients required full thorocotomies for a total picture of their lung heath.





Related Links:
Robarts Research Institute
Vancouver General Hospital