Vanderbilt University Hospital Medical Center (VUMC) is the first hospital in Tennessee to introduce Optellum’s Virtual Nodule Clinic. The world-leading hospital was one of the first to conduct clinical trials of the software, under the leadership of the late Pierre Massion, which were published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine in 2020.

The Vanderbilt Lung Institute, along with the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center, and the Lung Cancer Screening Program led by the Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences,  is now deploying the commercial software as part of its comprehensive care program to prevent, detect and treat lung cancer.

“Lung nodules are very common in Tennessee; so is lung cancer. Most lung nodules that are detected are actually not lung cancer; they’re something else. But you never want to miss a lung cancer. They can have a cancer that’s growing in their chest, and they don’t know.”

Otis Rickman, DO, Director of Interventional Pulmonology for the Vanderbilt Lung Institute.

Lung cancer kills more people each year than any other cancer, and early detection is crucial to treatment and survival. Moreover, lung nodules are especially present in Tennessee due to a fungus called histoplasmosis. Most are not cancer, but it’s critical to detect the ones that are.

“That’s what this Optellum software will do. We are making a difference. Survival has improved. We think that has a lot to do with screening and early diagnosis.”

Otis Rickman, DO, Director of Interventional Pulmonology for the Vanderbilt Lung Institute.

VUMC joins other leading hospitals in deploying the solution. Case studies and clinical validation can be found in the resources area of the Optellum website.

Further reading:

• Vanderbilt reporter news story on the software implementation
• Professor Massion’s clinical trial paper in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (also known as ATS Blue Journal).
• Optellum’s news story about the clinical trial