By Trish Svoboda
Researchers from Kansas State University have developed an enhanced method for treating lung cancer. The first application of this treatment in Australia has been successfully carried out by project partners, marking a milestone in their clinical study.
The enhanced bronchoscopic microwave ablation therapy has the potential to address small lung tumors in a single-session procedure, thereby enhancing patient safety and minimizing costs. The clinical study aims to evaluate the safety and technical viability of the phenoWave microwave ablation system.
The phenoWave microwave ablation system is engineered to coagulate soft tissue through the application of thermal energy, specifically for bronchoscopic lung tissue ablation. This breakthrough could allow doctors to diagnose and treat lung lesions in a single session in the future, thereby enhancing patient safety and cutting costs.
A collaboration between Kansas State University, Royal Melbourne Hospital, phenoMapper LLC, and Australian Healthcare Solutions has led to the successful completion of the first bronchoscopic microwave ablation treatment by Professor Daniel Steinfort of Royal Melbourne Hospital and his team.
“The ablation procedure was straightforward and required skills that all interventional pulmonologists would possess,” Steinfort said. “Deployment of the ablation catheter to the site of the treatment target was as simple as any diagnostic sampling procedure. This raises the exciting prospect of being able to deliver curative ablation treatment to small lung tumors via a safe and widely available procedure modality in a single treatment session.”
