Daily Times

PESHAWAR: Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) will soon have modern imaging equipment that will enable the Radiology department to precisely diagnose various health issues of patients besides enabling the department to double its capacity of caring for patients.

Dr Muhammad Nawaz Khan, head of the radiology department informed Daily Times that a ‘state of the art’ Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) was already functional at the newly renovated department.

“The Phillips MRI machine has complete software package with five years warranty and it is capable of diagnosing full body, including cardiac imaging, full brain spectroscopy and breast cancer with the best possible resolution,” Dr Nawaz said, adding that this was only the second facility in Pakistan after Agha Khan Hospital Karachi to allow complete imaging of cardiac issues and brain biopsy without the need of a surgical knife.

Through wired-connectivity, the facility allows doctors sitting away from the control room to inspect the imaging in real-time even before the scans are printed. Dr Nawaz said that the department had agreement with the MRI equipment providers to train the HMC staff for operating the machine. “An application specialist from Singapore trained members of our Radiology staff for a week in October. All scans during that period were done free of cost for patients,” he said.

Another application specialist from Australia is set to train more staff, including 10 other radiologists from across the country for a week from December 22. Besides, the HMC plans to send at least one cardiologist and two radiologists for two week training in a foreign country. Dr Nawaz Khan added that the facility charged Rs 6,000 for the full cardiac scans. The same tests could be obtained for at least Rs 35,000 at the facility at Agha Khan Hospital. “The equipment, along with complete software package and warranty cost us Rs 220 million,” Dr Nawaz Khan added.

Additionally, the machine’s higher resolution allow for better chances of diagnosing breast cancer. “It also enables us to better scan the content inside human body. Females below 30 years of age have more fats in their body which is seen as white spot with the older machines. However, the more detailed imaging with the latest machine makes diagnosis easy,” Dr uhamamd Nawaz said.

The radiology department has also purchased a modern 168-slice Computerized Tomography (CT) scan machine that will add to the department’s capacity to scan more patients daily. “The 1.5 tesla specification makes the new machine the most advanced CT scan machine in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” Dr. Nawaz claimed.

Currently the HMC radiology department is using single-slice Toshiba machine that was installed there in 1998. “The maintenance cost of the machine between 2001 and 2012 was $42,000 per annum. It did not include replacing the tube. However, we gave the contract to a private party in 2012 who charge us Rs 1.7 million per annum, including tube replacement,” Dr Nawaz said.

He added that his department was able to secure Rs 30 million donation from the Refugee Affected and Hosting Areas (RAHA) programme. “We have purchased a Digital Radiography (DR) X-Ray machine, two 500 milliaphere plain X-Ray machines, a Doppler Eleastrogphy ultra sound machine and a retrofit machine that converts plain 500ma X-ray scans into DR quality images,” Dr Nawaz added. Currently the Radiology department, on a routine day provided for 700 x-rays, more than 200 ultrasound tests and at least 25 MRI scans.

Once installed, the new Doppler eleastrography machine will enable the radiology department to diagnose liver fibrosis, which refers to the first stage of scarring of liver; before the illness reach a more serious stage called cirrhosis.