The EBUS (Endo Bronchial Ultrasound) for the Respiratory Medicine Department is currently under order from Olympus, expected delivery date in early December 2019. Once this equipment is delivered and commissioned, the Friends will engage with hospital management around the next major fund-raising project. with a particular emphasis on new service development. EBUS will be used by the Consultant Respiratory Physicians in the hospital to assist them in the earlier diagnosis of serious respiratory disease, such as lung cancer. There is much research to show that the earlier that lung cancer can be diagnosed, the quicker medical intervention can be initiated, the better the outcomes in relation to survival and cure rates.
EBUS is a minimally invasive but highly effective procedure used to diagnose lung cancer, infections, and other diseases causing enlarged lymph nodes in the chest.
Benefits of EBUS to both Patients & Physicians
- It provides real-time imaging of the surface of the airways, blood vessels, lungs, and lymph nodes
- The improved images allow the physician to easily view difficult-to-reach areas and to access more, and smaller, lymph nodes for biopsy with the aspiration needle than through conventional mediatinoscopy
- The accuracy and speed of the EBUS procedure lends itself to rapid onsite pathological evaluation Pathologists in the operating room can process and examine biopsy samples as they are obtained and can request additional samples to be taken immediately if needed
- EBUS is performed under moderate sedation or general anesthesia
- Patients recover quickly and can usually go home the same day
