BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – Healthcare and technology often go hand-in-hand. New programs and equipment have made some procedures easier to perform than ever before, and patients get the benefits.

If you need a lung biopsy done and you go to CHI, chances are the new robotic bronchoscopy machine will be assisting Dr. Alfredo Iardino, who specializes in critical care and pulmonology at CHI, in performing the procedure. The machine creates a path through a 3D image of a patient’s lungs.

“Before, patients would wait a month to be seen, to get a biopsy, to get scheduled, and later to see oncology. Now we’re able to see the patients, schedule them for their biopsy, give them their results in a couple of days and send them immediately to treatment,” Dr. Iardio said.

Dr. Iardino said by navigating through bronchi, the chances of a patient’s lung collapsing drop significantly, and they’re also able to biopsy even smaller lesions than they could before. That allows them to act far earlier.

CHI is one of the few hospitals with this tech in North Dakota. Another new technology is the Amplatzer Amulet.

Dr. Joya Ganguly, who specializes in cardiac electrophysiology at CHI, said the amulet helps patients who are at risk of having a stroke but can’t safely be on blood thinners develop a barrier between the left atrial appendage and the rest of the heart, trapping potential blood clots.

Dr. Ganguly said Sanford offers a similar device called the Watchman.

“Watchman is similar to Amulet, only instead of having the double part, it just has the single. So what I like about the Amulet is the extra barrier,” Dr. Ganguly said.

Dr. Ganguly is the only doctor trained to install the Amulet in the state.

CHI started using the robotic bronchoscopy machine in October and the Amulet in June.

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