Grateful Patient and Investor Shares Firsthand Experience of the VECTRA WB360
Thanks to funding from Hoag Innovators, this leading-edge technology is revolutionizing screening for melanoma and other skin cancers, alleviating patients’ concerns.
Like most Southern California natives, Robert Brunswick, chair-elect of the Hoag Hospital Board of Directors and co-founder of Hoag Innovators, has had a significant amount of sun exposure. He spent his teenage years as a Laguna Beach lifeguard and continues to be an avid outdoorsman. Mindful of the sun and his fair complexion, he does his due diligence, applying sunscreen and attending his annual dermatology appointment.
But when Hoag Innovators, a group of donors with a shared vision for advancing health care innovation at Hoag, met in the spring of 2022 and learned about the VECTRA WB360, Robert knew there was a better way forward. Consistent with the group’s collective giving model, Hoag Innovators decided collaboratively to fund the technology—a whole-body 3D imaging system that captures a patient’s entire skin surface in less than two seconds—and bring it to Hoag. Now, as the first hospital west of the Mississippi to offer access to the VECTRA, Hoag’s Director of Dermatologic Oncology Dr. Steven Wang, who pitched the idea to Hoag Innovators, is enhancing screening and early detection for high-risk patients.
With 92 cameras that fire simultaneously, the VECTRA maps out all moles and lesions on a patient’s body, allowing physicians to track changing lesions, identify those of concern, and reduce unnecessary biopsies. After a recent appointment with Dr. Wang, Robert emphasized, “I couldn’t have had a better experience. From the people at the front desk to the appointment itself. Dr. Wang has a wonderful bedside manner, and I left feeling more educated having had such a thorough diagnostic review. There’s no need for me to be concerned now.”
“When [my wife] Kitty and I started Innovators and rallied other families around us, we knew that throughout this journey we would have moments where we thought, ‘Wow, we’re helping save lives.’ The VECTRA was one of those moments. I have no doubt it will be a game changer for anyone at risk of melanoma or other skin cancers,” said Robert.
For more information about Hoag Innovators, please contact Gwen Ritter, vice president of development, principal gifts, at 949-764-7209 or Gwen.Ritter@hoag.org.
Dr. Steven Wang with the VECTRA WB360, located in Hoag’s Irvine Cancer Center at 16105 Sand Canyon Avenue.
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