Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in New Hampshire is to offer a new lung-valve treatment for patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or emphysema. The treatment, known as Zephyr Endobronchial Valve treatment, which has been approved by the US FDA under its “Breakthrough Devices” status, is the first minimally invasive procedure to help emphysema sufferers breathe easier without major surgery. 

Medical practitioners at the hospital said that the procedure is done using a simple bronchoscopy that requires no cutting or incisions, and would provide faster relief to patients as compared to other highly invasive alternatives such as lung transplant. 

The hospital said that the Endobronchial Valve functions by collapsing the poorly-functioning parts of the lung while expanding the healthier parts of the lungs, enabling the better functioning of breathing muscles.