MONARCH® Robotic Bronchoscopy

Patients with lung nodules, lung masses and lung opacities are eligible. Patients with implanted electronic devices in their body or defibrillators will be individually evaluated.

No, your doctor has complete control throughout the entire procedure. The robotic bronchoscope helps your doctor get a tissue sample easier than controlling it by hand.

Many lung cancer diagnoses are found at an advanced stage, in part because it has no symptoms in its early stages. Because the Monarch® platform provides improved reach, vision and control for bronchoscopic procedures, it holds potential to help clinicians make a diagnosis earlier. Additionally, it is a minimally invasive procedure which means you recover more quickly and can likely leave the hospital the same day.

The procedure times may vary but will generally take about thirty to ninety minutes.

Not all lung spots (nodules), are cancerous. Over half of them are not. They can have many causes. These can be smoking, scar tissue, or old infections. To find out if a nodule is cancerous, a small piece of tissue must be examined. A bronchoscopy helps your doctor determine if a lung nodule is cancerous.

Yes it is safe. Every medical procedure will carry some risk. The primary risk factors for lung biopsy procedures are a collapsed lung and bleeding. The MONARCH® bronchoscopy was designed to keep risks as low as possible while maintaining a high rate of diagnosis.

1. Your doctor will place the bronchoscope through the mouth, throat and into the lungs using a controller.
2. A combination of real-time visualization and electromagnetic navigation (like a GPS you use in your car) is used that gives your doctor a road map to find the nodule.
3. The robotic bronchoscope gives your doctor precise control and stability making it easier to reach nodules deep in the lung.
4. Your doctor can quickly and safely take a tissue sample (biopsy) of the nodule and send it to the laboratory for testing without making an incision.
5. Once your results are available, your doctor will meet with you to discuss next steps and recommendations.

It is an outpatient procedure and usually happens in a hospital operating room or endoscopy suite.