UPMC Hamot now has new technology that's available nowhere else in the country. The robotic system allows doctors to see areas of the lung that could not be seen before.

It's called the Monarch Platform, developed by a company called Auris Health.  It uses software, and a small camera, that can now reach areas of the lung that previous technology could not. The new system allows doctors to diagnose lung cancer earlier, and save lives.
    

Auris Health chose Dr. Stephen Kovacs, of UPMC Hamot, over hundreds of other doctors across the country, to be the first to work with the system.

 

"We can really navigate these airways while we're visualizing them.  We can get in front of those nodules and these masses and figure out what they are,” says Kovacs.

 

Kovacs said lung cancer has reached epidemic proportions in the Erie area. 90% of people diagnosed with the disease do not survive because it is usually not detected until it reaches an advanced stage.

 

 

David Gibbons, UPMC Hamot President, says the new technology will draw many new patients to the hospital.  He says physicians from across the country and around the world will come to UPMC Hamot to train with the system.

 

"This is revolutionizing the way health care is delivered.  We are very proud to be the first to introduce this in the nation,” Gibbons said.