St. Joseph’s Hospital marked a milestone in innovation with its first use of advanced technology to combat lung cancer during robotic-assisted bronchoscopies.
The new technology is a pulsed electric field (PEF) system consisting of a flexible endoscopic tube with a needle at the end to deliver electrical energy to a targeted mass of cells, otherwise known as lesions, within the lungs. St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa is the first hospital in Central Florida to use this technology.
The procedure is done in conjunction with bronchoscopies, both standard and robotic-assisted, to navigate lung lesions and perform biopsies. The system, called the Aliya® PEF with INUMI Flex Needle, is manufactured by Galvanize Therapeutics.
The technology delivers high-voltage, high-frequency electrical currents endoscopically to the targeted cells. The electrical currents destabilize the cells causing their death. This additional treatment step adds, at most, 15 minutes to the bronchoscopy depending upon the size of the lesion being treated.
“This innovative approach is unlike anything we’ve seen,” said Meredith Quimby-Chames, St. Joseph’s Hospital’s surgical services director. “We are excited to be one of the first health care systems in the area to use this technology.”
BayCare and St. Joseph’s Hospital share the goal of supporting and helping patients in the battle against cancer by offering the best in specialized cancer care with board-certified cancer specialists, advanced technology and cutting-edge cancer research. The BayCare network of care for cancer patients spans across four counties for an integrated system encompassing hospitals, surgery centers, breast centers, radiation services, mastectomy resources, infusion and chemotherapy centers, oncology physician offices, patient resources, and support group locations.
In addition to St. Joseph’s Hospital, BayCare offers lung cancer programs with the multidisciplinary approach and robotic technology for early detection at Morton Plant Hospital in Clearwater and St. Anthony’s Hospital in St. Petersburg.
“We are very proud to be able to offer new therapies for our cancer patients,” said Tim McMahon, director of the BayCare Cancer Institute. “This is further evidence of BayCare and St. Joseph’s Hospital’s commitment to clinical excellence for improved outcomes in the fight against cancer.”
Learn more: BayCare Cancer Institute at St. Joseph’s Hospital
