Patients in central and southern Illinois now have access to a more precise, safer way to detect lung cancer, thanks to a new robotic-assisted technology available through a partnership between SIU Medicine and Springfield Memorial Hospital. Pulmonologists Taylor Stone, MD and Mingchen Song, MD , performed the first biopsies using the platform last month. The Ion navigational bronchoscopy system reaches deep into the lung, to biopsy nodules that were previously difficult to access. Its ultra-thin, flexible catheter provides stability and precision, allowing physicians to collect tissue samples
