Taine Pechet

Bio

When it comes to the latest technological advances in thoracic surgery, no one embraces it more than Taine Pechet, M.D., in the University of Pennsylvania Health System.

The High Definition Video Medical Technology and the Robotic Assisted thoracic surgery are just two of the latest innovations that he has helped pioneer.

Pechet is vice chief in the Department of Surgery at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. He is an advocate for the latest and greatest advances in his profession, allowing him to help his patients more than he ever has before.

The Penn Center has one of the most technologically advanced surgical operative suites in the country, designed specifically for minimally-invasive thoracic procedures, which include lung cancer and malignant pleural mesothelioma.

The state-of-the-art high definition medical video gives surgeons an enhanced view of patient anatomy, permitting a greater depth of view and an improved 3-D effect. It is designed to help surgeons like Pechet complete delicate, minimally invasive procedures.

"The HD technology provides a much better, clearer, sharper picture that allows us to see incredible details," Pechet said. "Some of our procedures require an ability to see tissue only as thick as a few layers of cells, and this system allows us to see the smallest structures. Anyone who has experienced the amazing images of high definition TV at home will be able to appreciate the difference."

Pechet is involved with several clinical trials involving Photodynamic therapy for primary pleural cancers like mesothelioma. He is looking at synergistic treatment response and PDT-generated tumor vaccines for a variety of malignancies.

Pechet also has pushed for the robotic approaches for treating lung diseases, moving away from the open-chest surgeries and more toward the minimally invasive procedures with 3-D visualization and added degree of movement.

"Robotic-assisted thoracic surgery is relatively new in the U.S." Pechet said. "Penn Medicine is an early innovator in the use (of it), and is developing the techniques and strategies that will define (its) role in the treatment of lung diseases."

Pechet is a graduate of Harvard Medical School, where he also did his clinical and research fellowship work. He did his senior residency at nearby Brigham & Women's Hospital. He first came to Philadelphia as an assistant professor of surgery at Thomas Jefferson University. He has been part of the Penn Med System since 2004, also working at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center.

His clinical interests include all areas of thoracic oncology with a special interest in minimally-invasive techniques. He frequently performs video-assistant lung cancer surgeries and also has vast experience in tracheal surgery and interventional bronchoscopy.

Publications

Pechet has written extensively on non-small cell lung cancer and lung transplantation in children. He has done reviews, abstracts, editorials and chapters, along with alternative media outlets. For example: http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/surgery/faculty/ttvp-pub.html