Monarch Takes Flight at Eisenhower

IN NOVEMBER 2019, Eisenhower launched Auris Health’s Monarch™ Platform which is used to view the inside of the lungs and obtain a tissue sample for biopsy, enabling earlier and more-accurate diagnosis of small and hard-to-reach nodules in the periphery of the lung.

The technology, made possible through a generous donation from Mrs. Judy Isaac, as well as Circle of Stars, a group of female philanthropists established by Eisenhower Health’s Foundation, integrates the latest advancements in robotics, software, data science and endoscopy. Eisenhower Health was the first hospital in Southern California and is one of only a few hospitals in the United States to utilize the platform, which was recently cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

“Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide, in part because it has no symptoms in its early stages. Because the Monarch Platform provides improved reach, vision and control for bronchoscopic procedures, it holds potential to help us to make a diagnosis earlier,” says Justin Thomas, MD, Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine, and the Director of the Bronchoscopy Laboratory, Eisenhower Health. “We are so thankful to the generous donors who made the acquisition of this important piece of technology available to our patients, and are excited about the promise it offers to a more hopeful future for our patients with lung cancer.”

More than 90 percent of people diagnosed with lung cancer do not survive the disease, in part because it is often found at an advanced stage. There are a variety of diagnostic options currently available for lung cancer, but all have limitations in accuracy, safety or invasiveness. These limitations can lead to false positives, false negatives, or side effects such as pneumothorax (collapsed lung) and hemorrhage, which may increase health care costs and extend hospital stays.

“The Monarch technology combines with an existing technology we use — endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) — where we sample (biopsy) lymph nodes in the chest to determine how advanced the patient is,” says Dr. Thomas. “Generally, a biopsy is recommended to save the patient from a potential surgery to resect a nodule that may not be cancer in the first place.”

To contact Eisenhower Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Clinic, call 760.834.3564.