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By renewing our driver’s license at the DMV, most of us are aware of the process of registering to become an organ donor should the worst come to pass. But there is another group of organ donors — living donors — who are helping relatives, friends and even strangers by donating a kidney or part of their liver. Living donors who choose to give a kidney — the most commonly donated organ — can live a full life with the remaining kidney.

An epidemic of chronic diseases continues to grow in the United States; half the population — an estimated 129 million Americans — have lifelong health conditions that need continuous medical attention and limit certain daily activities.

In a surgical suite at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, a robotic arm snakes an ultra-thin, ultra-flexible tube through a patient’s airway. Once the tube reaches the lungs, the surgeon operating the device remotely uses a tiny camera to search the area for an abnormal growth, or nodule, that might be cancerous. Once located, a needle pierces the nodule for biopsy.