GPS-like software helps tumor patients

ROUND ROCK, Texas (KXAN) - Breakthrough software is helping lung tumor patients in Williamson County. It’s called the "Super Dimension" and gives doctors a digital roadmap, similar to what a vehicle’s Global Positioning System uses.

For 58-year-old Seton Medical Center patient Tracy McAfee, it's been a long road. The Williamson County mother recently successfully battled a brain tumor. Now, holding onto the same determined attitude, she's dealing with a series of possible lung tumors.

 "I'm a very positive person. I think everybody should be. If I find something wrong with me: fix it!"  she said.

McAfee is fixing her health now that doctors are using breakthrough technology to get samples of her lung nodules to see if they're cancerous. 

Think of your lungs as a dense, urban neighborhood of increasingly narrow streets filled with twists and turns and blind alleys. If there's a thief hiding in there, he'll be hard to find, hard to root out.

Lung tumors are the same way. They might show up as a dark spot in CT scans, but they'll be located in tiny and hard-to-reach places.

Dr. Said H. Soubra at Seton Williamson Medical Center says The Super D program is like a video game.

“Basically we're reconstructing the lung in a software. And we're using this information like a GPS to reach those small nodules," he said. 

With the software, the doctor knows where in the lung to guide a probe on the end of a thin, flexible rod to get to the problem areas.

Without the "roadmap," doctors would be left performing expensive surgery and likely removing large chunks of lung.

"We really were blind going into the lung; now we really have a clear view of what's happening, said Soubra.

For McAfee, now that her doctors know the location of her lung tumors, she can move on to getting them taken care of. Seton's unique partnership with UMC Brackenridge and its cyber knife tool means the tumors can be shrunk precisely before they cause a cough or breathing problems or worse.

“I think I'm the luckiest person in the world right now. If I do (have lung cancer) the doctors will take good care of me. I'm not worried," she said.

So far, doctors have performed the Super D procedure on 10 Central Texans with more on the way.