By Vinod Jona, MDMcLeod Pulmonary and Critical Care Associates

The comprehensive lung program at McLeod includes our lung cancer screening program, dedicated nurse navigators, a lung nodule clinic, patient conferences with multiple specialists and innovative treatment options. The addition of Ion, a robotic-assisted endoluminal platform for minimally invasive peripheral lung biopsy, takes the detection of lung cancer to the next level and allows us to provide superior care to patients.

Ion enables our lung team to precisely detect lung cancer earlier, test for tumor markers and perform smaller resections using our da Vinci robot. Additionally, this new technology revolutionizes the speed and accuracy with which lung cancer can be diagnosed, allowing for treatment to begin sooner.

Offered at McLeod Regional Medical Center, the Ion system provides navigation and guidance to distant regions of the lungs in a minimally invasive outpatient procedure, enabling us to locate, biopsy and plan treatment for very small lung nodules that were previously difficult to access with traditional technology. The McLeod team is utilizing the system to act sooner and not wait for nodules to grow before they are biopsied.

Prior to the procedure, we take the data from a patient’s lung CT scans and utilize the Ion platform to build a dynamic 3D map of the patient’s lungs. Ion allows us to navigate the safest and most efficient path to the targeted nodule using an ultrathin, moveable, camera-equipped catheter. With the platform’s controller, the physician can move the catheter 180 degrees in any direction to pass through small, difficult-to-reach airways and around tight bends to navigate all 18 segments of the lung.

We are also able to inform patients if the lung nodule is cancerous or not before they go home because we have rapid on-site evaluation of the biopsy thanks to the addition of a certified histotechnician in the OR. And, we can further evaluate the patient’s test results by biopsying the lymph nodes during this same procedure using endobronchial ultrasound.

Earlier treatment for lung cancer is proven to increase survival rates to as high as 92 percent. Using this technology, we can establish the diagnosis sooner and perform pre-surgical staging in a single procedure. This is beneficial to patients because it requires fewer hospital visits and leads to better patient outcomes. It also allows me to ease their concerns or fears and focus on the course of treatment they want to pursue whether that is surgery or radiation treatment.

Advancements in thoracic surgery and robotic-assisted procedures have greatly improved the treatment of lung cancer by McLeod Cardiothoracic Surgeons. In addition, we are fortunate at McLeod to have a da Vinci Xi robot dedicated exclusively to thoracic surgical cases in one of our Heart and Vascular Operating Rooms.

If a patient chooses radiation treatment for lung cancer, the McLeod Radiation Oncology team utilizes Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT). An advanced form of treatment, SBRT delivers precisely-targeted radiation with sub-millimeter accuracy in a fewer number of treatments offering patients more convenience and a better quality of life.

The added benefit of offering robotic-assisted surgery and SBRT for lung cancer at McLeod further strengthens the comprehensive lung cancer program we offer to patients from the midlands to the coast. We continue to make incredible strides with our low-dose CT lung screenings, the lung nodule clinic and virtual multidisciplinary conferences which involve the patient and family in the decision-making. The addition of the Ion system to our lung program significantly improves the detection of lung cancer in its earliest stages and assists us in providing patients with a more precise diagnosis and the best course of treatment.

For more information on the McLeod Healthy Lungs Initiative, please call (843) 777-5953.

Dr. Vinod K. Jona joined the medical staff of McLeod Health in 2001 and has been instrumental in the expansion of pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine programs. He most recently served as Chief of the Medical Staff for McLeod Regional Medical Center. Additionally, Dr. Jona serves as Medical Director of the McLeod Healthy Lungs Initiative Program and the Pulmonary Rehabilitation Committee. He is also a member of the Medical Staff Executive Committee, Quality Operations Committee and the McLeod Physician Associates Steering Board Committee. Board certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Disease and Sleep Medicine, Dr. Jona obtained his medical degree at Kakatiya Medical College in Warangal, India. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Jacobi Medical Center of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine Yeshiva University, in Bronx, New York, and a fellowship in Pulmonary Disease at Albert Einstein Health Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Dr. Jona cares for patients at McLeod Pulmonary and Critical Care Associates.