The technique involves passing a thin probe through a small channel in a flexible bronchoscope and directing it to the abnormal area of lung. When compressed carbon dioxide from a gas cylinder connected to the probe is allowed to expand, it cools suddenly and freezes the tip of the probe. Lung tissue adjacent to the probe tip also freezes and sticks to the cryoprobe and can then be removed. The cryoprobe has several therapeutic uses in the lung. It is usually performed under general anaesthesia through a rigid bronchoscope and patients generally stay in hospital for at least 1 night following the procedure.

Interventional bronchoscopists at Macquarie Respiratory and Sleep have been performing cryoprobe procedures since 2015 and recently ran a training course at Macquarie University Hospital to teach other bronchoscopists this technique. Our bronchoscopists are involved in a multicentre cryobiopsy trial and have published original research pertaining to the use transbronchial lung cryobiopsies.