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​    ​monarch robotic platform

Catholic Health’s St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center® has a new weapon in its fight against lung cancer with the addition of the Monarch robotic platform.

The cutting-edge technology features flexible robotics that will use small cameras and tools to enter the body through its natural openings. This will allow physicians at St. Francis, one of the first hospitals in the United States to utilize the new technology, to diagnose and treat hard-to-reach small peripheral nodules with greater precision.

“The ability to reach deeper into the lung will allow us to biopsy small lesions that will lead to better outcomes for our patients,” said Jeffrey Wolf, MD, director of the Surgical Intensive Care Unit at St. Francis Hospital. “This new technology also gives us the ability to take larger tissue samples that will provide more information when choosing the right treatment option for our patients.”

Lung cancer accounts for almost 25% of all cancer deaths in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS). Each year, more Americans die of lung cancer than colon, breast and prostate cancers combined. ACS estimates more than 235,000 new cases of lung cancer will be diagnosed in 2021, leading to more than 131,000 deaths.

The Monarch platform uses a controller-like interface that allows physicians to insert an endoscope (a thin, flexible robotic tube with a camera tip) deep into the lung with improved reach, vision and control. Combining traditional endoscopic views of the lung with computer-assisted navigation, the new technology provides continuous remote vision of the patient’s own lung anatomy, based on 3-D models.

“There have been some tremendous developments in the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer, which includes the Monarch platform,” said Dr. Wolf. “We are excited to offer our patients this new technology.”

Catholic Health oncology services include Cancer Institutes at Good Samaritan Hospital, Mercy Hospital, St. Francis Hospital & Heart Center® and St. Joseph Hospital and cancer care at St. Catherine of Siena Hospital and St. Charles Hospital.

Additionally, Catholic Health is a member of the Roswell Park Care Network, one of New York’s premier cancer centers. This allows for collaboration and participation in Roswell Park’s proprietary clinical trials as well as those associated with the National Cancer Institute.

More information on oncology services offered by Catholic Health is available at chsli.org or by calling (844) 862-2623.

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