SIH achieved another milestone in advanced robotic medicine Wednesday as pulmonologist Dr. Gurpreet Bambra performed the first Ion robotic-assisted bronchoscopy procedures at Memorial Hospital of Carbondale.
SIH is now the only health system to offer this cutting-edge diagnostic technology in the southernmost 16 counties, which enables physicians to reach small, hard-to-access lung nodules with unmatched precision.
The Ion system allows specialists to navigate deep within the lung to biopsy nodules that would otherwise require riskier, more invasive procedures.
Dr. Bambra says unlike CT-guided biopsies performed through the chest wall, the Ion approach is minimally invasive, performed under anesthesia and allows most patients to return home the same day.
He says for southern Illinois, where smoking rates and lung cancer incidence are above state and national averages, this innovation has profound impact.
