LUNG BIOPSY
Today, there are more than 500,000 bronchoscopies performed annually in the U.S. to diagnose lung disease; approximately two-thirds of those fail to reach the distant regions of the lungs.3,4 For these distant regions, conventional bronchoscopy has been used in conjunction with more invasive surgical procedures to enable a definitive diagnosis. More invasive procedures, however, may present higher complications for some patients, including pneumothorax (collapsed lung), hospitalization and long-term chest pain.
Conventional bronchoscopy produces a diagnosis for only approximately 14% of lesions deep in the lungs (the outer two thirds of the chest) that are smaller than 2 cm in diameter.7 Other techniques must be used to make a diagnosis if the spot on the lung is deeper in the lung tissue and out of the reach of the bronchoscope.
