Morgantown, W.Va.-based WVU Cancer Institute, part of WVU Medicine, later this month will start traveling to rural regions in the state to provide fully mobile lung cancer screening to residents, the health system said Aug. 5.
The fully mobile CT lung cancer screening unit, called LUCAS, an acronym for lung cancer screening, is the first of its kind in the U.S., according to a news release.
"The residents of most West Virginia counties do not currently have access to this type of screening within their borders, and there are only a limited number of facilities in the state registered to provide comprehensive screening services," said Albert Wright Jr., PharmD, president and CEO of the WVU health system. "We need to meet people where they are rather than have them travel to us for their care."
Four details:
1. The LUCAS unit is fully powered through artificial intelligence.
2. Under current COVID-19 protocols, LUCAS will be able to screen 20 patients per day and will begin traveling to communities later in August.
3. The pilot program is part of the WVU Cancer Institute's larger mobile cancer screening program, which includes Bonnie's Bus — a mobile breast cancer screening effort that has provided more than 23,000 mammograms since 2009.
4. WVU is working with Canon Medical Systems USA and Johnson & Johnson on the initiative.