First Arizona Hospital To Have New Cancer Screening Tool

Banner Boswell Medical Hospital is the first in the state to offer SuperDimension Navigation System, which is technology that would allow doctors to diagnose lung cancer sooner.

The SuperDimension Navigation System is a “minimally invasive approach” that gives doctors the ability to access difficult-to-reach areas of the lung.

Lung cancer usually isn’t diagnosed in early stages, and that’s why this new technology is groundbreaking.


“With this navigational technology, we create a GPS system of the patient’s airways where the nodule is located, and that information is available in real-time during the procedure,” said Dr. Archan. “That helps fine-tune the exact location of this spot.”

The SuperDimension Navigation uses a patient’s CT scan to “create a 3D virtual roadmap that allows doctors to navigate and steer a catheter quickly and accurately to reach pulmonary targets during a bronchoscopy.”

When the catheter reaches the targeted tissue, the system’s brush will collect samples from endobronchial lesions, peripheral lung nodules, or lung masses.

“Think of the GPS system you use in your car. Sometimes it says you’ve arrived at your destination, but you look around and think, ‘Well, I don’t quite see it,’” Shah said. “Then you realize, you have to go another 50 feet to the left, for example.”

“This technology tells you exactly where you need to go, except we’re talking in millimeters instead of feet.”

Lung cancer is responsible for the most cancer-related deaths, and it’s the second-most common cancer. More than 200,000 people in the United States each year, and the five year survival rate is 19 percent.