Little Rock, Ark — In terms of medical diagnosis, the sooner you find it, the better. 

For a Little Rock woman who was recently diagnosed with lung cancer, she was able to take the lead in defeating lung cancer-all thanks to a new technology from UAMS.

"I don't smoke. It's just every day—I play with my grandchildren. I live a normal life. I mean, I started to breathe, but now we understand why," said Cynthia Chapman, who was diagnosed. Suffered from lung cancer in October.

She was helped by Dr. Nikhil Meena of UAMS, who used the Ion Chamber Robotic Bronchoscopy System to help diagnose Chapman. 

It is manufactured by Intuitive and used in hospitals for the first time in September. The machine enabled Dr. Meena to find early cancerous nodules in the lungs of two patients.

Dr. Meena said that the nodules in the first patient could not be properly biopsy with their early techniques. The second patient had multiple small nodules, two of which were found to be cancerous.

The robotic bronchoscope system in the ion chamber is a machine whose camera is small enough to fit in the throat and can enter a small area of ​​the lungs. 

"So your lungs are basically an upside-down tree. So, there is a fruit or a nodule on that tree. It is usually far away on a branch," said Dr. Mina. "So, not only do you need to climb to the right branch, you also have to walk a long way to catch that fruit or nodule."

The machine provides doctors with real-time video and can detect any abnormalities in the lungs. 

"Before we had larger bronchoscopes, you could get into the correct branch, but you could not get far enough under the branch, or you could not reach the correct branch because your bronchoscope did not move in some way," Mina Say. 

Two years ago, doctors found a lump on Chapman and monitored it. 

With new technology, they are about to see it develop into cancer. 

Chapman said: "I mean, I just thank them for finding it as soon as possible because it is still in the first stage, so the survival rate is higher." 

Dr. Meena hopes everything goes well during Chapman's operation in early December. She hopes that Chapman, who wants to spend more time with his grandchildren, can rest at home on Christmas. 

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