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Updated: Oct 24, 2025
Author Spotlight: Expanding Interventional Pulmonology Research with Robotic-Assisted Bronchoscopy
Published on: July 19, 2024
Shape-Sensing Robotic-Assisted Bronchoscopy in the Diagnosis of Pulmonary Parenchymal Lesions
Or Kalchiem-Dekel1, James G Connolly2, I-Hsin Lin3
1Section of Interventional Pulmonology, Pulmonary Service, Department of Medicine, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY.
Background:
The landscape of guided bronchoscopy for the sampling of pulmonary parenchymal lesions is evolving rapidly. Shape-sensing robotic-assisted bronchoscopy (ssRAB) recently was introduced as means to allow successful sampling of traditionally challenging lesions.
Research Question:
What are the feasibility, diagnostic yield, determinants of diagnostic sampling, and safety of ssRAB in patients with pulmonary lesions?
Study Design And Methods:
Data from 131 consecutive ssRAB procedures performed at a US-based cancer center between October 2019 and July 2020 were captured prospectively and analyzed retrospectively. Definitions of diagnostic procedures were based on prior standards. Associations of procedure- and lesion-related factors with diagnostic yield were examined by univariate and multivariate generalized linear mixed models.
Results:
A total of 159 pulmonary lesions were targeted during 131 ssRAB procedures. The median lesion size was 1.8 cm, 59.1% of lesions were in the upper lobe, and 66.7% of lesions were beyond a sixth-generation airway. The navigational success rate was 98.7%. The overall diagnostic yield was 81.7%. Lesion size of ≥ 1.8 cm and central location were associated significantly with a diagnostic procedure in the univariate analysis. In the multivariate model, lesions of ≥ 1.8 cm were more likely to be diagnostic compared with lesions < 1.8 cm, after adjusting for lung centrality (OR, 12.22; 95% CI, 1.66-90.10). The sensitivity and negative predictive value of ssRAB for primary thoracic malignancies were 79.8% and 72.4%, respectively. The overall complication rate was 3.0%, and the pneumothorax rate was 1.5%.
Interpretation:
This study was the first to provide comprehensive evidence regarding the usefulness and diagnostic yield of ssRAB in the sampling of pulmonary parenchymal lesions. ssRAB may represent a significant advancement in the ability to access and sample successfully traditionally challenging pulmonary lesions via the bronchoscopic approach, while maintaining a superb safety profile. Lesion size seems to remain the major predictor of a diagnostic procedure.
