Mobile Experience Teaches Students About Lung Cancer Technologies

The Thoracic Oncology Mobile Experience, nicknamed TOME, made an appearance at Tampa General Hospital Brooksville on Friday. One of many stops on its cross-country tour, Intuitive’s 56-foot-long exhibit is designed to display the cutting-edge technologies that are being used to treat lung cancer today.

With a capacity of 30 people at one time, the vehicle is just large enough to accommodate a class of high school students. So, throughout the morning and into the early afternoon, classes from Nature Coast, Central, and Springstead made the field trip to TGH North to get a first-hand look at Ion and Da Vinci 5.

Ion robotics are a “navigational bronchoscopy platform” with the goal of “stage-shifting lung cancer,” said Intuitive representative Kelsey Alexander. Stage shifting involves detecting and diagnosing cancers at earlier developmental stages of the diseases (phase 0, I, or II) as opposed to later (phase III or IV).

The device, which Kelsey added is the smallest on the market, helps to accomplish this goal by inserting a catheter that can reach any segment of the lungs. Once inside, it can biopsy suspicious “sub-centimeter nodules […] half the size of your fingernail,” she continued. It was TGH North’s Dr. Siva Kumar’s interest in the technology that helped the collaboration get off the ground.

This advanced screening technique reduces perforation risk by 50 percent and can be used in tandem with the other technological marvel that was on hand on Friday – Da Vinci. The innovative medical device performs soft-tissue surgery in the thoracic cavity with the need for only eight-millimeter incisions.

This ensures that the surgery is minimally invasive and results in dramatically reduced lengths of stay. Most patients are discharged on the same day. Even for some of the more complex cases like gastric bypasses, complications can be minimized with the Da Vinci.

The operation is carried out by a surgeon sitting at a console controlling robotic arms called masters. An accompanying control panel allows the staff to view and adjust a multitude of settings, including smoke evacuation in the event of cauterizations.

Students had the opportunity to learn about and test both machines during their sessions on Friday. With lung cancer claiming the ignominious title of being the leading cause of cancer deaths in the world, these technologies promise to be crucial bulwarks against the deadly disease in the future.

“It is such a great, innovative technology for our county,” said Rebecca Nelson, Director of Surgical Services at TGH North. “[…] The best thing about the Ion, I would say, is it is minimally invasive, decreased risk of lung perforation, and faster pathology results […] A more advanced and innovative technology that we now have to offer our community to get ahead of the disease process so that they can have better outcomes.”

According to Jennifer Siem, Senior Director of Strategic Growth and Government Affairs at Tampa General, TGH Brooksville was the first hospital in Hernando County to adopt the Ion Program, which was the reason the facility was able to host the experience on Friday.

This was the last stop for the wheel-bound exhibit in the state of Florida, which visits two locations every week for 40 weeks from January to November. Next up, TOME will be making its way to Georgia. Siem does not yet know when the experience will return for another showing at TGH North.

In 2021, then Bravera Health opened a program in conjunction with Jersey College of Nursing. This has allowed the hospital “to bring community members [and] students from outside, as well as our team members, to get exposure to the sim lab, to practice skills, to understand what opportunities might exist in healthcare for people that are looking to go into health-related careers,” said Siem.

The trio of high school classes that were already on hand to view TOME was also invited to take part in these seminars that covered topics such as wound care, birthing, and the dangers of vaping, among others.

Siem continued that it is a “win-win” to have Jersey College’s nurses training at Tampa General’s hospitals as well as getting students involved and interested in health fields early on. With the constant need for health professionals, such training seminars could prove useful in building more interest in the field among the county’s youth.