Robotic-assisted bronchoscopy in the diagnosis of peripheral pulmonary lesions

Chinese expert consensus on cone‐beam CT‐guided diagnosis, localization and treatment for pulmonary nodules

“…Moreover, the risk of complications is relatively high when percutaneous transthoracic needle biopsy (PTNB) operations are performed under the guidance of traditional imaging methods. With the continuous improvement and development of technologies, more auxiliary guidance technologies have been iteratively updated, 2 , 3 including radial endobronchial ultrasound (R‐EBUS), 4 , 5 , 6 electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopy (ENB), 7 , 8 , 9 electromagnetic navigated PTNB, 10 , 11 virtual navigation bronchoscopy (VBN), 12 , 13 , 14 robotic bronchoscopy, 15 , 16 , 17 percutaneous puncture robotic system, 18 , 19 and the cone‐beam computed tomography (CBCT), 20 , 21 , 22 etc. Nonetheless, efficient and precise reach of pulmonary nodules with minimal invasiveness is still a challenging yet crucial task even with the arsenal of various navigation tools.…”

Imaging in peripheral bronchoscopy

“…Despite the development of ultrathin bronchoscopes, the proliferation of navigational technologies, and the advent of robotic-assisted bronchoscopy platforms (RAB), the diagnostic yield of peripheral bronchoscopy continues to lag behind that of computed tomography (CT)-guided transthoracic needle aspiration (TTNA) [1][2][3]. One critical shortcoming of diagnostic bronchoscopy is the relative lack of image-guidance: whereas interventional radiologists use high-fidelity intraprocedural imaging to guide their instruments and confirm technical success of their biopsy procedures, the majority of bronchoscopists continue to rely on historical scans, knowledge of airway anatomy, virtual roadmaps, and two-dimensional fluoroscopy that fails to render the majority of lung nodules.…”