Many technological innovations for
diagnosis and treatment are expected to reach the clinic following validation, such as video - assisted thoracic surgery, sensitive imaging techniques, use of tracer gases, regenerative medicine (e.g. in
lung transplantation), nanoparticle - based carriers of inhalational drugs or bioactive compounds, personalised medicine (especially for
lung cancer), bronchoplasty, laser energy as a surgical
tool, and metabolic imaging techniques.