Journal of Thoracic Disease
Mar 29, 2016
ST. LOUIS, MO – March 29, 2016 – Veran Medical Technologies Inc., a privately-held medical device company and leader in image-guided endobronchial and percutaneous technology for diagnosis of lung cancer and therapy delivery, was recently highlighted in a new clinical study. This clinical study was focused on utilizing Veran’s SPiN Thoracic Navigation System and SPiNPerc, a navigated percutaneous approach to biopsy peripheral lung nodules, to biopsy suspicious peripheral lung nodules. The study was completed by a team of researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and was recently published in the Journal of Thoracic Disease.
With recent data from the National Lung Screening Trial showing a reduction in mortality with CT screening and newer selection criteria for lung cancer screening, the issue of definitive diagnosis for peripheral solitary pulmonary nodules (SPN’s) has become even more prevalent.1 Historical data has shown low diagnostic yield rates for these type of nodules which require multiple procedures in multiple departments to completely diagnosis and stage these patients.
A prospective pilot study was completed to investigate a multimodality approach for diagnosing and staging peripheral lung nodules by combining mediastinal staging (linear EBUS), navigated bronchoscopy and navigated TTNA (SPiNPerc) into a single procedure. Researchers selected small (~2cm) peripheral nodules less than 15mm from the pleura, the majority located outside of an airway, which present a difficult challenge for lung specialists today. Definitively diagnosing and staging these nodules commonly requires multiple procedures which delays the patient receiving the treatment needed. The study reported this multimodality, single procedure approach to have an overall diagnostic yield of 92%.
“Veran’s SPiN Thoracic Navigation System and SPiNPerc are transforming the physician’s ability to accurately access and diagnose hard-to-reach solitary pulmonary nodules (SPN’s) and to provide cost-effective care for the 2.7 million SPN’s found annually in the U.S.,” said Veran CEO Jason Pesterfield. “We are very excited by the results of this study and to be able to provide lung specialists more ways to target SPN’s in one procedure and help our customers save more lives through the early diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer.”
The SPiN Thoracic Navigation System and SPiNPerc are being used by many of the top cancer centers in the U.S., and have enabled physicians to navigate easily to suspicious nodules through either an endobronchial or percutaneous approach using a detailed, patient-specific airway map. With proprietary Always-On Tip Tracked® instrumentation and patient tracking of respiration, Veran enables accurate and fast diagnosis in a single procedure versus what has traditionally taken several procedures to get a lung cancer diagnosis.
Veran is a privately held medical device company headquartered in St. Louis, MO. The company’s mission is to empower physicians to diagnose cancer earlier and to enable precision therapy to save lives. In the United States, lung cancer kills more people each year than breast, prostate, pancreatic and colon cancers combined.
Veran has developed and commercialized an FDA cleared, next generation electromagnetic thoracic navigation platform called the SPiN Thoracic Navigation System®. Veran’s breakthrough technology has been adopted by leading cancer centers throughout the United States. Veran provides physicians with a full line of bronchoscopic brushes, needles, forceps and steerable catheters with tiny electromagnetic sensors embedded in the tips for precise navigation. The combination of these proprietary Always-On Tip Tracked® instruments and Veran’s exclusive patient respiratory gating technology enables physicians to accurately access lung nodules by accounting for nodule movement during patient breathing, a common challenge for lung specialists.
Another challenge lung specialists face is that approximately 40% of lung nodules lie outside of an airway, making them very difficult to reach endobronchially, and traditionally requiring an additional procedure. Veran’s SPiN Thoracic Navigation System® is the first and only FDA cleared technology that enables Pulmonologists or Thoracic Surgeons to safely and accurately access lung nodules outside of an airway using SPiN Perc®, a navigated transthoracic needle. With SPiN Perc®, Veran combines endobronchial navigation with percutaneous navigation, allowing physicians to access all lung nodules in a single procedure, regardless of nodule size or location. This eliminates the cost and risk of unnecessary procedures and empowers physicians to provide a same day diagnosis for their patients. The early diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer has been proven to save lives.