President Droupadi Murmu dedicates Jipmer’s advanced linear accelerator to nation

PUDUCHERRY: President Droupadi Murmu dedicated to the nation an advanced linear accelerator in Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (Jipmer) on Monday.
“This equipment will minimize radiation exposure through precise targeting of the radiation. I understand that this machine will increase the capacity of the institute to provide curative radiation treatment.It will augment affordable advanced medical care,” she said.
The accelerator, which costs Rs 17.01 crore, will be used to extend radiotherapy treatment to 80 to 100 patients per day. Patients receiving radiotherapy with curative intent usually need an average of 25 to 30 treatment sessions each, delivered over four to five weeks. Hence, running five days a week, the equipment will be able to treat around 600 to 800 new cancer patients annually.
The accelerator will increase the institute’s capacity to treat cancer patients. It will take the excessive load off the other two existing radiotherapy machines in the institute and reduce the waiting time for radiation treatment significantly.
The accelerator will be used to treat patients with cancers affecting the mouth and throat, larynx (voice box), esophagus (food pipe), gynecological sites (uterine cervix), prostate, ano-rectum, skin, brain and lungs.
It will also be used in conjunction with surgery or chemotherapy to reduce the risk of relapse in patients with many gastrointestinal, hepatobiliary, breast cancers and childhood cancers. It will also provide a good treatment modality even for patients with advanced and incurable cancers by helping reduce the tumour size and thus relieving symptoms of obstruction of a vital body structure such as food pipe, intestine, windpipe and urinary tract.
The accelerator allows precise targeting of radiation to the cancer site thereby maximizing the benefit to the patient while simultaneously minimizing the radiation exposure to the intervening and surrounding normal organs and structures. It has a fast rate of radiation delivery resulting in shorter treatment sessions than the conventional linear accelerators thereby not only increasing patients’ comfort but also allowing for greater number of treatment sessions each day and thus helping more patients.
Lieutenant governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and chief minister N Rangasamy were present.
Murmu virtually inaugurated a 50-bed hospital constructed at a cost of Rs 10.52 crore under the national Ayush mission at Villianur in Puducherry.
She later visited the arts and crafts village at Murungapakkam and offered prayers at Manakula Vinayagar temple and Thirukanchi temple on Monday.
She will take a walk on the beach road on Tuesday morning, visit Sri Aurobindo Ashram before proceeding to Auroville to inaugurate a plenary session on ‘Aspiring for the super mind at the city of consciousness’ and address the gathering.