Does Penn Highlands Offer Monarch Robotic-assisted Bronchoscopy?

What is Monarch Robotic-assisted Bronchoscopy?

Monarch is a new innovation that holds promise to fight lung cancer. Used to view the inside of the lungs and obtain a tissue sample for biopsy, the goal of Auris Health’s Monarch™ Platform is to enable earlier and more accurate diagnosis of small and hard-to-reach nodules in the periphery of the lung.

The technology integrates the latest advancements in robotics, software, data science, and endoscopy (the use of small cameras and tools to enter the body through its natural openings). The Lung Center at Penn Highlands is among the first hospitals in the United States to utilize the platform. Cleared in 2018 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Monarch is one segment of our rapidly growing Robotics Center built to bring leading-edge technology to Penn Highlands patients.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, 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 physicians to make a diagnosis earlier. This is why the professionals at Penn Highlands are excited about the promise of this technology to offer a more hopeful future for our patients with lung cancer.

How Can Monarch Help me?

The use of the Monarch bronchoscopy can lead to your more positive outcome. That’s because more than 90 percent of people diagnosed with lung cancer do not survive the disease, in part due to the fact that it often exists without symptoms and therefore is found at an advanced stage. There are a variety of diagnostic options currently available for lung cancer, but all have limitations in accuracy, safety, or invasiveness. These limitations can lead to false positives, false negatives, or side effects such as pneumothorax (collapsed lung) and hemorrhage, which may increase health care costs and extend hospital stays.

Does the Robot Perform the Procedure in My Doctor’s Place?

No. Here’s how it works: The pulmonary specialists at the Lung Center are specially trained to utilize a familiar controller-like interface to navigate the flexible robotic endoscope to the periphery of the lung with improved reach, vision, and control. Combining traditional endoscopic views into the lung with computer-assisted navigation based on 3-D models of the patient’s own lung anatomy, the Monarch Platform provides physicians with continuous bronchoscope vision throughout the entire procedure.