The new Ion Endoluminal System has a thin robotic catheter that allows doctors to quickly and accurately reach the deepest and hardest-to-reach areas of the lungs. The system has been used to take biopsies in the first patients with suspected lung cancer.

The development builds on Wythenshawe's work on the Greater Manchester Lung Health Check programme where community-based mobile screening centres have diagnosed more than 600 lung cancers, mostly at early and curable stages.

Dr Haval Balata, Respiratory Physician and Clinical Lead for the Ion service at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, said that the new robot would transform how the service could treat patients.

He said: ‘Ion allows us to safely, and accurately, sample lesions and provide patients with the much-needed answers they seek. This, in turn, allows us to offer patients the best possible treatments sooner rather than later, when treatment is much more likely to be successful.'

Mark Cubbon, chief executive of Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, added: ‘It is important that we constantly innovate and embrace new technologies to enable our clinicians to provide the best possible care to our patients. Becoming one of the first hospitals in Europe to use this system is a significant step forward to strengthen our ability to detect and treat lung cancer as early as possible.'

The service will be established for patients across the region over coming weeks and months.