'Game changer' device could hold key to early detection for Australia's deadliest cancer
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here Lung cancer has the highest mortality rate in Australia but now, a groundbreaking medical machine could be the key to early detection. It's the only one of it's kind in the country - a revolutionary robot called 'ION' - built in Brisbane and improving how biopsies are conducted, ultimately helping patients live longer. Four years ago, 61-year-old Ruanda found a nodule on her lung but her road to a diagnosis wasn't a walk in the park. Lung cancer has the highest mortality rate in Australia and now a groundbreaking medical machine could be the key to early detection. (9News) "My lung specialist then sent me for two normal bronchoscopies," she told 9News. "They couldn't get enough tissue to actually make a proper diagnosis." The Brisbane grandmother with a family history of cancer, was told to watch and wait but when it comes to cancer, early detection is key. "It was discovered it had actually doubled in size," she said. Months later, Ruanda found out she had non-smoking related lung cancer after it was detected by a groundbreaking robot at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (RBWH). "It's very much a game changer," Dr David Fielding, RBWH Thoracic Physician said. It's the only one of it's kind in the country - a revolutionary robot called 'ION' - built in Brisbane and improving how biopsies are conducted, ultimately helping patients live longer. (9News) "The robot is a way of improving our precision and getting to these small spots, taking a biopsy and improving our knowledge of what it is." The 'ION' platform from Intuitive Surgical is ushering in a new era of robotic bronchoscopy. "[It'll] hopefully, increase the survival rate up to 60 or 70 per cent," RBWH Interventional Bronchology Director Dr Farzad Bashirzadeh told 9News. It works after a regular CAT scan is taken, then the computer maps out a virtual pathway through an individual's lungs and directs doctors through the real airway to reach the biopsy site more efficiently. More than 170 patients have already benefited from the revolutionary technology, with preliminary results showing the robot is twice as accurate as previous biopsy methods. More than 170 patients have already benefited from the revolutionary technology, with preliminary results showing the robot is twice as accurate as previous biopsy methods. (9News) "We would do it in a similar way [previously] but with a bronchoscope that we hold with our hand," Fielding explained. "[But with] the robot, you just drive it with a trackball, like a video game, and it stays still." Ultimately by helping to remove human error, it reduces the risk of a lung collapse. "On average [the old way] is about 25 per cent risk of pneumothorax, meaning collapsing lung," Bashirzadeh said. "But in this one it's less than one per cent." Ruanda is grateful the technology helped catch her cancer at stage one and she'll undergo surgery in the coming weeks. "This is definitely gonna help people get the answer at the right time," she said. national
Australia
health
Health Services
cancer
Brisbane CONTACT US
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
9 News
17 hours ago
- 9 News
'Game changer' device could hold key to early detection for Australia's deadliest cancer
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here Lung cancer has the highest mortality rate in Australia but now, a groundbreaking medical machine could be the key to early detection. It's the only one of it's kind in the country - a revolutionary robot called 'ION' - built in Brisbane and improving how biopsies are conducted, ultimately helping patients live longer. Four years ago, 61-year-old Ruanda found a nodule on her lung but her road to a diagnosis wasn't a walk in the park. Lung cancer has the highest mortality rate in Australia and now a groundbreaking medical machine could be the key to early detection. (9News) "My lung specialist then sent me for two normal bronchoscopies," she told 9News. "They couldn't get enough tissue to actually make a proper diagnosis." The Brisbane grandmother with a family history of cancer, was told to watch and wait but when it comes to cancer, early detection is key. "It was discovered it had actually doubled in size," she said. Months later, Ruanda found out she had non-smoking related lung cancer after it was detected by a groundbreaking robot at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (RBWH). "It's very much a game changer," Dr David Fielding, RBWH Thoracic Physician said. It's the only one of it's kind in the country - a revolutionary robot called 'ION' - built in Brisbane and improving how biopsies are conducted, ultimately helping patients live longer. (9News) "The robot is a way of improving our precision and getting to these small spots, taking a biopsy and improving our knowledge of what it is." The 'ION' platform from Intuitive Surgical is ushering in a new era of robotic bronchoscopy. "[It'll] hopefully, increase the survival rate up to 60 or 70 per cent," RBWH Interventional Bronchology Director Dr Farzad Bashirzadeh told 9News. It works after a regular CAT scan is taken, then the computer maps out a virtual pathway through an individual's lungs and directs doctors through the real airway to reach the biopsy site more efficiently. More than 170 patients have already benefited from the revolutionary technology, with preliminary results showing the robot is twice as accurate as previous biopsy methods. More than 170 patients have already benefited from the revolutionary technology, with preliminary results showing the robot is twice as accurate as previous biopsy methods. (9News) "We would do it in a similar way [previously] but with a bronchoscope that we hold with our hand," Fielding explained. "[But with] the robot, you just drive it with a trackball, like a video game, and it stays still." Ultimately by helping to remove human error, it reduces the risk of a lung collapse. "On average [the old way] is about 25 per cent risk of pneumothorax, meaning collapsing lung," Bashirzadeh said. "But in this one it's less than one per cent." Ruanda is grateful the technology helped catch her cancer at stage one and she'll undergo surgery in the coming weeks. "This is definitely gonna help people get the answer at the right time," she said. national Australia health Health Services cancer Brisbane CONTACT US
News.com.au
10-06-2025
- News.com.au
Footage shows horror moment Qantas worker plunges 6m off aerobridge at Sydney Airport
The terrifying moment a Qantas worker fell five metres through a hole in an aerobridge at Sydney Airport has been released. Newly released footage shows customer service representative Olivia Hristovska approaching the side of the aerobridge to look onto the tarmac through the little windows that run along the side. She doesn't appear to notice the gaping hole below her feet where the side of the aerobridge has come away from the platform and as she walks closer she slips through. Another worker sees her fall and approaches the hole but is too late to help. Ms Hristovska was rushed to hospital with life-threatening head injuries after the fall last month. She was placed in an induced coma with a collapsed lung, several broken ribs, broken clavicle and pelvis, and fractured spine. She's since been released from hospital into the care of her adult two daughters and is still living with the impact of the head injury. 'Bones can heal, but the brain you don't know,' her daughter Monique Hristovska told 9News on Tuesday, 'She's lost her whole identity.' She described her mother's time in hospital as 'traumatic' and 'daunting' and said she initially learned the details of the incident through doctors and the media. 'We are truly sorry for the devastating incident that occurred to one of our team members at Sydney Airport last month and acknowledge the significant impact this has had on Olivia and her family,' he said. 'We have had a number of conversations and correspondence with Olivia's family since the day of the incident and have offered our full support through this incredibly difficult time. We are here to assist Olivia in any way we can through her recovery while also respecting her family's request for privacy during this stage of her recovery. 'Everyone at Qantas and Sydney Airport wants to know exactly what happened and we are supporting SafeWork NSW as it conducts a full investigation into the incident. 'In the meantime, both Qantas and Sydney Airport have put in place enhanced safety procedures and Qantas has engaged independent experts to look at how safety can be improved on aerobridges at airports around Australia and the world.'
Perth Now
10-06-2025
- Perth Now
‘Own embryo': Horror IVF incident
Fertility treatment company Monash IVF has admitted to a second IVF mistake, again putting the wrong embryo into a patient. The latest incident happened on June 5 at the company's Clayton clinic in Melbourne's southeast. 'A patient's own embryo was incorrectly transferred to that patient, contrary to the treatment plan which designated the transfer of an embryo of the patient's partner,' Monash IVF said in a statement to the ASX on Tuesday. Monash IVF has clinics across the country. 9News Credit: Supplied 'Monash IVF is conducting an internal investigation into the incident. 'Monash IVF has extended its sincere apologies to the affected couple, and we continue to support them,' the statement reads. In 2023, Monash IVF staff in Brisbane mistakenly implanted the wrong embryo into another woman; the recipient of the embryo gave birth to the child. Monash IVF reported this incident to authorities and news of the error broke in April this year. Victorian barrister Fiona McLeod is running an independent review into the Brisbane incident. Ms McLeod's investigation is being widened, Tuesday's announcement says. '(Monash IVF) has also extended the scope of the independent review … noting that the different incidents occurred some years apart. Monash IVF will provide an update on the findings of the expanded review in due course,' the statement reads. The company said checks and balances were also being improved 'commencing immediately'. 'Monash IVF will implement interim additional verification processes and patient confirmation safeguards over and above normal practice and electronic witness systems, to ensure patients and clinicians have every confidence in its process,' the statement read. 'Whilst industry leading electronic witness systems have and are being rolled out across Monash IVF, there remains instances and circumstances whereby manual witnessing is required.' Monash IVF alerted the regulators to the incident, the company said. More to come
