Interventional Pulmonary Center and Bronchoscopy Suite

Founded in 1982, our IP program is one of the most experienced in the U.S. We offer advanced diagnostic procedures to treat chest and airway conditions without surgery. Henry Ford has committed fully to this service, operating one of the largest, most advanced procedure suites in the U.S.

About Henry Ford’s bronchoscopy suite

Henry Ford’s bronchoscopy suite provides state-of-the-art technology in our well-equipped procedure rooms. Here, our team of experienced interventional pulmonologists performs highly complex diagnostic and multidisciplinary treatments for lung cancer, sarcoidosis, pulmonary fibrosis and other lung diseases.

Our bronchoscopy suite includes two large procedure rooms and one smaller room for pleural procedures. When you arrive for a procedure, you can use valet parking conveniently located at the west entrance and then take the elevators to the 4th floor. During a procedure, your loved ones can wait nearby. 

Interventional pulmonology at Henry Ford

We combine quality and safety with the most advanced technologies to provide each patient the best possible treatment plan for recovery and quality of life. We offer every means of diagnosis and treatment because every problem — like every patient — is different. Above all, we offer hope.

As the only fully comprehensive IP program in Michigan, we diagnose and treat lung and airway problems, including lung cancer. We also diagnose and treat infections and injuries to the pleura (the thin layer of tissue that surrounds the lungs). Get more information about interventional pulmonology. 

Our services include:

Advanced diagnostics

We diagnose the cause and type of a lung condition using bronchoscopes. These scopes are long and thin, with a light and camera that allow pulmonologists to view inside the lung. Your lungs have more than 1,400 miles of airways. To diagnose and help treat disease, we pair the bronchoscope with tools such as:

• EBUS-TBNA (endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration), the state-of-the-art tool used to sample lymph nodes and other masses near the airway. We can localize and sample nodes as small as 5 millimeters (1/5 of an inch) in diameter.
• Electromagnetic navigation, which is similar to a GPS system used in your car. Doctors use it to find small nodules deeper in the lungs.
• Endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS), a probe we use to help identify nodules in the lungs.
• Autofluorescence, a special technology to identify early disease in the airway walls.

Treatments for lung problems

We treat benign (non-cancerous) and malignant disease (including lung cancer and tumors from other cancers, like breast cancer, that spread to the airways and lungs).

• Cancer treatment: We can remove tumors growing within the airways using ablation procedures. Minimally invasive ablation cuts, burns, freezes, clots or destroys tumors without open surgery so you can heal faster and more comfortably. We offer:
  
  • Laser therapy uses an advanced tool to destroy tumor tissue, coagulate the surface of tumors and cut through tissue
  • Electrosurgical techniques uses hot snare, scalpel, forceps or probe to destroy tumors or stop bleeding
  • Argon plasma coagulation is a form of electrosurgery (treatment using electrical currents) that can destroy tumors or stop bleeding
  • Cryotherapy uses freeze-and-thaw cycles to destroy tumors or remove obstructions
  • Photodynamic therapy injects a drug that responds to a specific laser light to kill cancer cells from the inside
  • Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) heats the tumor to destroy cancer cells 
  • Stents are tiny tubes made of a variety of materials that help keep airways open or close holes in airways
• Treating accidents, trauma or infection: Using the same tools, we can stop bleeding and close holes created in the lungs. These processes can restore your lung function. Read more about treatments for lung and airway problems.
• Whole lung lavage (WLL): We routinely provide whole lung lavage. This treatment “washes” the insides of the lungs when people have a condition called pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP). WLL removes buildup to make breathing easier again. Henry Ford is one of the few centers that perform WLL on both lungs in one procedure. Learn more about whole lung lavage.

Treatments for pleural diseases

Imagine that your chest is a box, and your lungs are balloons in that box. The pleura is the space between the balloons and the inside of the box. We treat benign or malignant disease in the pleura using techniques like thoracentesis, indwelling catheters or thoracoscopy. Get more information about treatments for pleural disease.

• Thoracentesis is a procedure in which we sample fluid from the chest to assist in diagnosing a condition or to remove fluid to help you breathe better.
• Indwelling catheters are used when fluid builds up repeatedly and doctors need a long-term solution to control it.
• Thorascopy lets us actually look inside your chest, often making the diagnosis and treating it in one procedure.
• Pleurodesis uses talc to close off an abnormal space in the pleura

Call Interventional Pulmonology

Call our Interventional Pulmonology team at (313) 916-4406.