NEW ORLEANS , LA, UNITED STATES, January 29, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — HeartLung Corporation announced today that CommonSpirit Memorial Hospital-Breathe Easy Mobile Lung Screening, developed and led by HeartLung Scientific Advisor Dr. Robert Headrick, MD, MBA, is being featured this week at the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) Annual Meeting in New Orleans.
Breathe Easy was created to address a persistent challenge in lung cancer prevention: many high-risk individuals do not complete recommended screening due to real-world barriers such as transportation, time away from work, limited access to convenient imaging, and gaps in awareness. The program brings noninvasive low-dose CT scans directly into communities, making it easier for people to get checked for early signs of lung cancer and connect to follow-up care when needed.
“Too many patients who qualify for screening never receive it, and the consequences are devastating,” said Dr. Robert Headrick. “Breathe Easy was built to remove friction by bringing screening to where people are, especially in vulnerable communities that carry a disproportionate burden of lung cancer. Earlier detection changes everything.”
The Breathe Easy model centers on a mobile CT “coach” designed to meet patients where they live and work. By taking screening outside of traditional hospital settings, the initiative aims to reduce missed opportunities for early detection and help clinicians identify lung findings earlier, when treatment options are broader and outcomes can be improved.
In addition to evaluating the lungs for nodules or other concerning findings, a low-dose chest CT can provide broader clinical context that supports preventive care discussions. The program reflects an increasing focus across cardiothoracic care and population health efforts: not only improving screening recommendations, but improving screening completion in the real world by making access simple and practical.
Dr. Headrick’s work has helped elevate the conversation around community-forward screening strategies and has contributed to a growing recognition that accessibility is often the difference between late-stage detection and early intervention. At STS in New Orleans, Breathe Easy is being highlighted as a model that health systems, clinicians, and community partners can look to when designing programs intended to reach more patients and reduce preventable delays in diagnosis.
HeartLung’s involvement reflects the company’s mission to expand access to earlier detection and prevention-focused care. Through advisory leadership from clinicians like Dr. Headrick, HeartLung supports initiatives that bring practical screening solutions into everyday settings and improve the likelihood that eligible patients receive timely care.
About Breathe Easy Mobile Lung Screening
CommonSpirit Memorial Hospital-Breathe Easy is a mobile low-dose CT lung screening initiative developed by Dr. Robert Headrick to bring noninvasive lung screening directly into communities, with a focus on reaching vulnerable populations disproportionately impacted by lung cancer. The program is designed to improve access, increase screening participation, and support earlier identification of potential lung cancer findings.
About the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) Annual Meeting
The 62nd STS Annual Meeting will be held January 29–February 1, 2026, in New Orleans, Louisiana, at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, convening cardiothoracic surgeons and care teams to share science, best practices, and innovations in the field.
About HeartLung.AI
HeartLung Corporation is a medical technology company dedicated to advancing AI-enabled, CT-based opportunistic screening and early disease detection. HeartLung’s mission is to shift healthcare from late-stage disease treatment to earlier identification and prevention, using artificial intelligence to unlock clinically actionable information embedded within routine medical imaging.
HeartLung develops FDA-cleared AI technologies for the opportunistic detection and prevention of cardiovascular disease, lung cancer, emphysema/COPD, osteoporosis, myosteatosis, fatty liver disease, and other life-threatening conditions—often years before symptoms appear.
The company has received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation and FDA 510(k) clearance for AutoChamber™, an AI-powered tool that detects enlarged cardiac chambers and left ventricular hypertrophy on non-contrast chest CT scans, including low-dose CT used for lung cancer screening and contrast-enhanced coronary CT angiography (CCTA). HeartLung has also obtained FDA 510(k) clearance for AutoBMD™, the only CT-based, DEXA-equivalent opportunistic osteoporosis screening technology cleared by the FDA and reimbursed by Medicare.
These technologies are now integrated within AI-CVD®, HeartLung’s flagship FDA-cleared platform for large-scale opportunistic screening across cardiovascular and multisystem disease domains. By enabling clinicians to extract far greater preventive value from CT scans that are already being performed, HeartLung aims to redefine how imaging contributes to population health, value-based care, and early disease prevention.
For more information, visit https://www.heartlung.ai
Marlon Montes
HeartLung Technologies
+1 310-510-6004
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Closing the Healthcare Gap: Mobile Lung Screening on the Move | CommonSpirit Memorial Hospital
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