Summary:
Vadodara: Diagnosis of cancer and non-cancerous Alzheimer’s, heart diseases, drug addiction and traumatic brain injury is set to become cheaper and easy.The non-profit Kailash Cancer Hospital and Research Centre at Goraj-based Muni Seva Ashram has procured Gujarat’s first high-power cyclotron which can produce medical isotopes for diagnosis of these diseases. The other advantage is that the isotopes will be used before they decay,” said Dr Rajesh Kantharia, medical director of the hospital. “The treatment will also be done at one-fourth of the cost incurred otherwise,” he added.“This is a high-power machine so it generates less radiation heat and also consumes less power. The cyclotron will also be helpful in research work so that new isotopes can be produced,” said Rakesh Pathak director of IBA India.Many of the patients that the hospital receives come from rural areas of not only Gujarat but neighbouring states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. The medical isotopes help in positron emission tomography (PET) and CT scans, but until now these medical isotopes had to be brought from other states which increased treatment costs and created logistical problems.The cyclotron is also the first in western region which will help in diagnosis in non-cancerous diseases.“Since these medical isotopes will be produced locally and used here, the shipment cost will be saved..