Saint Francis Incorporates New Technologies for Breast Cancer Treatment

The EnVisio Surgical Navigation System and Smartclip technology reduces pain and increases accuracy during breast cancer surgery.

Continuing its commitment to delivering superior care to its patients, Saint Francis Hospital has begun the use of Elucent’s EnVisio® Surgical Navigation System and Smartclip technology, a groundbreaking tumor marking system that reduces pain and increases accuracy during breast cancer surgery. The new technology system is a significant improvement for women undergoing lumpectomies, a surgery that removes cancerous tumors, improving both clinical and cosmetic outcomes for patients.

“With approximately 1-in-8 women in the U.S. expected to develop breast cancer over her lifetime, it is vital that we continue to innovate and push the standard of care for our expanding patient population,” said Christina Metcalf, M.D., Division Director of Breast Surgery at Saint Francis. “We are extremely proud to bring this state-of-the-art technology to serve our patients facing breast cancer. Providing the best patient outcomes is important to us, and by using the EnVisio system, we are elevating our facility to the leading edge of breast cancer care. The EnVisio system allows us to streamline the patient’s surgical experience and eliminate an additional step on an already stressful day.”

This advanced technology allows physicians to implant the wireless SmartClip Soft Tissue Markers at the time of the breast biopsy or any time prior to surgery. The EnVisio Navigation System allows breast surgeons to reach their target safely without disrupting healthy tissue. The system provides “directions” to surgeons in three dimensions to accurately pinpoint and mark the location of cancerous tissue that needs to be removed. Once integrated with the surgical cutting tools, surgeons are guided with real-time 3D navigation to locate the tissue to be removed.

The SmartClip is incredibly small, measuring about the size of a grain of rice, and emits a differentiated electromagnetic signature to provide true, real-time stereotactic 3D coordinates. The SmartClip is used in conjunction with the EnVisio Surgical Navigation System, which delivers real-time guidance, processing over 250 data streams continuously and simultaneously. The electromagnetic signature communicates depth, distance, and direction, which helps surgeons locate tumors with minimal invasion and excise targeted tissue for increased successful recovery.