The ON-SITE study, a multicenter study in bronchoscopy combining Stimulated Raman Histology with Artificial Intelligence for rapid lung cancer detection, is in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson Enterprise Innovation Inc. and will be conducted at multiple centers including The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Corewell Health, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. This has led to the institution of large-scale screening programs for high-risk patients, which results in an estimated 3.1 million new primary lung nodules identified each year. Despite major sector investment in minimally-invasive biopsy technology, obtaining adequate tissue for biomarker and treatment determination remains a challenge. For this reason, bronchoscopy guidelines recommend rapid-on-site tissue evaluation (ROSE) for lung biopsies.

“ROSE requires that a cytologist or highly trained cytotechnician be physically present in the procedure room, and thus it is not available at many centers performing lung biopsy due to resource limitations,” said Jason Akulian, MD, Director of Interventional Pulmonlogy at UNC, “we are excited by the NIO’s potential to extend the benefits of ROSE to the proceduralist when the service is not available.”