The unit is the busiest in this country with over 1,000 elective procedures performed annually. It is one of the few centres in the region providing a comprehensive spectrum of bronchoscopic services.
Our procedures are mainly performed in the Inpatient and Lung Endoscopy Centre (ILEC) on an outpatient basis. It houses the only endoscopy suite entirely reserved for bronschoscopic procedures in Singapore. Our bronchoscopy suite is maintained at negative pressure to the surroundings with 12 air exchanges per hour, which makes it a legitimate airborne infection isolation room.
Bronchoscopy is a procedure that allows your doctor to examine the airways using a bronchoscope (a thin flexible tube with a video camera attached to its end).
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Bronchoscopy
Diagnostic services include flexible bronchoscopy, bronchoalveolar lavage, bronchial biopsy, transbronchial lung biopsy under fluoroscopy (including cryobiopsy), electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopy, and endobronchial ultrasound.
EBUS comprises linear/convex probe EBUS and radial probe EBUS.
The convex probe enables real-time visualization of mediastinal lymph nodes and sampling i.e., EBUS-guided transbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) for lung cancer diagnosis and staging.
The radial probe allows more precise localization and biopsy of small peripheral lung lesions. It is an important modality in the early diagnosis of peripheral lung cancer.
Both services are available in the department and we have a team of bronchoscopists who are proficient in these procedures.
Electromagnetic navigation bronchoscopy (ENB) is a GPS-like technology that plans and directs the route through the airways to the target. ENB allows bronchoscopists to perform transbronchial lung biopsy with greater accuracy.
Cone-beam CT (mobile and fixed systems), which is available at our center, may also be utilized to confirm tool-in-lession for higher success rates.
