Health Corner

SIRC Center

Star Imaging and Research Centre (SIRC) recently inaugurated its first centre at Joshi Hospital. This center will house a Philips 3.0 TX MRI machine,an advanced magnetic resonance imaging equipment,the only MRI scanner that adapts to each patient’s anatomy. The machine has special coils like 32 channel brain and cardiac coils,as well as 16 channel knee coils – all available only at this center in India. Speaking on the occasion,Dr Asish Atre,radiologist,SIRC,said that the centre is equipped with a 3 Tesla MRI machine with patient-adaptive Multi Transmit technology which adapts to the anatomy of each patient under scanning. Dr Anupama Patil,radiologist,SIRC,further added that another patient-friendly aspect of the equipment is that it has an ultra short magnet tunnel,which reduces the sense of claustrophobia for the patients. With advanced techniques,the patient has to spend lesser time in the scanner compared to the traditional MRI available in the market.

Cleft treatment center

A maxillofacial cleft treatment centre was started at Dr D Y Patil Dental College and Hospital recently. A cleft lip is a separation in the upper lip upper lip. A cleft palate is an opening in the roof of the mouth. Cleft results from the incomplete development of the lip or palate in the early weeks of pregnancy. This maxillofacial cleft centre is first of its kind in the dental colleges of Maharashtra and is a joint venture of Dr D Y Patil Medical College and Dr D Y Patil Dental College under the Dr D Y Patil University.

Oncology conference

More than 100 oncologists from all over Maharashtra had come together for a two day conference organised by the Oncology Group (Maharashtra) on head-neck-lung cancer on Saturday and Sunday at the Corinthians Club. Dr Shona Nag ,chairman of the group,Dr R A Badwe,director of Tata Memorial Centre,and others were present on the occasion. Nag said that it is necessary to form appropriate and applicable treatment guidelines for cancer care. The basic oncology care should be standardised and should be available to all in smaller towns. There is also a need for cancer registries in Maharashtra. According to Dr Suraj Pawar,70 per cent of lung cancer cases are related to smoking,either active or passive.

(compiled by Anuradha Mascarenhas)