Hanne Sorger

MD, specializing in internal medicine and pulmonology. Research project concerning navigation/GPS for the lung, aiding lung cancer diagnostics.

I have recently started a clinical PhD project on navigation in bronchoscopy at the Faculty of Medicine. Our research group developing a navigation system (can be compared to a GPS) for the lungs. We think this will facilitate a more precise, gentle and quick diagnostics of lung cancer. 

When a patient comes to the Pulmonary ward with a recently discovered "shadow" on chest x-ray, it is our job to find out whether or not this is lung cancer. We also want to know the stage of the disease, ie, whether the disease has spread to other organs. This is of great importance when it comes to mode of treatment and prognosis for the individual. Most patients will be offered a bronchoscopy, a videoassisted investigative procedure of the lung. We use a bronchoscope, a long, thin, flexible tube inserted through the mouth, to inspect and sample from the airways. It can however be difficult to find the tumor or obtain adequate diagnostic material by bronchoscopy. Then we must rely on other, potentially more uncomfortable and risky procedures to provide the correct diagnosis and treatment. 

Our navigation system for the lungs allows a more targeted bronchoscopy, where CT images of the patient´s lungs becomes a map or a coordinate system in which we maneuver our investigative tool- the bronchoscope. When inside the lungs, we are guided by the GPS to where the tumor is to be found, and can direct our sampling procedures at the right spot immediately. We hope and think that this will help us finding the correct diagnosis more often. We are also working on implementing ultrasound images into our navigated bronchoscopy, which will allow us to investigate whether the cancer has spread to lymph nodes positioned near the airways. We could by doing so not only provide the diagnosis, but also determine whether or not the disease can be cured by surgery or radiotherapy. 

Our research project LungNav is a cooperation between the Department of thoracic Medicine, St Olavs Hospital, SINTEF and NTNU (all Trondheim, Norway). Pulmonologists, engineers and medichal tecnicians work together in developing new medichal equipment and new technological methods. This work is exciting!

At the moment, I have a 50% part time employment as a researcher at the Dept of Thoracic Medicine, St Olavs Hospital, and 50% employment as an attending physician/consultant in pulmonology at Levanger Hospital, Dept of Internal Medicine.