Hackensack Meridian’s Edison hospital unveils ‘revolution’ in lung care

Hackensack Meridian JFK University Medical Center in Edison unveiled Dec. 14 its latest technology for lung care. 

The new robotic Ion Bronchoscopy system – which the medical center said is the first of its kind in central New Jersey – allows physicians to better visualize and maneuver within the lungs to obtain lung tissue samples.  

“The Ion is truly a revolution in how we’re now able to diagnose patients with lung cancer at their earliest possible stage,” Dr. Faiz Bhora, chair of surgery and chief of thoracic surgery, central region, Hackensack Meridian Health, said in a video explaining the technology. 

“We’re now able to biopsy very small lesions in the lungs that, prior, we had no good way to get to at all,” Bhora continued, adding that it’s the most minimally invasive method of performing this type of biopsy. 

While the physician controls the robotic system, a 3D map of the patient’s lung appears on a computer screen, allowing the doctor to see exactly where the bronchoscope is in the person’s lung, resulting in a biopsy of very small nodules.

According to the medical center, this process “guides the physician to get to the nodule, much like GPS in a car.” 

Bhora said most patients can be back to work in a week to 10 days after the procedure. 

“The Ion bronchoscopy system allows for greater precision, more reach, more stability and earlier diagnosis to help our team of thoracic surgeons, pulmonologists and oncologists make the best diagnostic and treatment plans,” Amie Thornton, president, chief hospital executive, said in a statement. 

The new technology is part of The Advanced Lung and Airway Center at JFK University Medical Center, which also just opened a state-of-the-art hybrid operating room.

Bhora added, “This platform’s unprecedented stability enables the precision needed for biopsy compared to manual techniques and the ability to diagnose lung cancer at the earliest stage when it is most treatable.”