Pulmonary care

Many lung conditions require advanced imaging and special procedures to confirm a diagnosis. Sometimes, certain areas of the lungs may be hard to reach via traditional imaging or a more complex procedure is needed to accurately stage lung cancer.

Bronchoscopy is a medical procedure where a physician uses a thin, lighted tube—called a bronchoscope—to examine the major air passages and lungs. This procedure is used to evaluate the lungs and collect small tissue samples to confirm a lung disease or lung cancer diagnosis.

In addition to biopsies, bronchoscopies help our doctors retrieve specimens that have become lodged in the airways. A bronchoscopy may be used as a tool when our pulmonologists are performing airway stentings, thoracostomies and pleuroscopies.

Our hospital has a dedicated bronchoscopy suite where we perform diagnostic procedures and treatments for lung conditions using a bronchoscope inserted via the nose or mouth. The bronchoscope allows our doctors to identify any foreign bodies, tumors, bleeding or inflammation in the airways or lungs. The suite is equipped with a dedicated pathology station where we can examine tissue samples.

3D navigational robotic bronchoscopy

While a traditional bronchoscopy is a commonly performed procedure, it does have limitations. It cannot reach the distant regions of the lungs, resulting in the need for a more invasive procedure to form diagnoses. To solve this problem, our hospital now offers 3D navigational robotic bronchoscopy, which allows our doctors to access those hard-to-reach areas of the lungs using minimally invasive technology.

When an imaging exam identifies an abnormality on a distant part of the lung, like a lesion, an additional diagnostic procedure is needed to form a diagnosis. Lesions may be caused by infection, inflammation or cancer. Forming an accurate diagnosis is crucial. That's why we use the 3D navigational robotic bronchoscopy to biopsy lung tissue earlier than what's possible with a traditional bronchoscopy.

Benefits of 3D navigational robotic bronchoscopy

3D navigational robotic bronchoscopy may also be used if you are experiencing poor lung function and are not a candidate for a more invasive form of diagnostic bronchoscopy. It benefits you by:

• Creating a 3D virtual roadmap of the lungs for extreme precision in navigating toward targeted lesions in the lungs in a minimally invasive manner
• Detecting lung cancer and lung disease in their earliest stages, often before symptom onset
• Providing an option for people with higher risk factors, such as those with poor lung function and people who have undergone surgery for cancer, chemotherapy or radiation therapy

Our hospital's 64-slice CT scanner is very beneficial for screening and diagnosing lung conditions. CT scans are often used to:

• Follow-up imaging of a suspicious lung lesion (spot)
• Screen people who are at a high risk for developing lung cancer
• Stage lung cancer

The CT scanner is a doughnut-shaped machine with X-ray capabilities. The machine takes multiple X-ray images as it rotates around you. We use computer software to combine these images and create a 3D, cross-sectional image of the area of the body being scanned.

CT scans can produce images of bones, soft tissues and blood vessels, which makes it possible to detect diseases earlier than what's possible with a traditional X-ray. Our advanced scanner produces high-quality images in a short amount of time.

EBUS is a diagnostic tool used for precise determination of lung cancer stage. This minimally invasive approach allows a doctor to pass a bronchoscope with an ultrasound-equipped tip through the mouth and down the windpipe. Many patients evaluated via EBUS can forego a more invasive diagnostic procedure.

If a chronic breathing problem is identified, our physical therapy and rehabilitation program offers pulmonary rehabilitation to improve your overall quality of life and well-being.

Pulmonary function tests

We use pulmonary function tests to provide measurable feedback on numerous lung functions to determine how well the lungs are working. Pulmonary function tests are essential in diagnosing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). We also perform pulmonary exercise stress tests, which allow us to determine how well the lungs, heart and muscles work together when put under stress.