The Hindu Business Line : GE Healthcare, Gujarat Imaging expand facilities

GE Healthcare and Gujarat Imaging Centre (GIC), which launched the State’s first molecular imaging centre for cancer detection and treatment here on Tuesday, are soon expanding the facility to two more cities in Gujarat and one in neighbouring Rajasthan.

GIC, set up with an investment of Rs 30 crore here, would set up similar facilities at Surat, Rajkot and Udaipur, Dr Dinesh Patel, Director, told Business Line. “We would be investing 15-20 per cent of the costs involved, which are being worked out,” he added. The next in line, at Surat, would be set up with an investment of Rs 8 crore. The facilities would also provide diagnostic services in the areas of cardiology and neurology.

GIC, leading centre in radiology, is also the only centre in Gujarat with molecular imaging expertise with nuclear medicine. It will start working in September, while the other centres would be commissioned by the end of the current financial year.

GIC is planning to start this chain of molecular centres in the region with position emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) and a medical cyclotron system, available at less than a dozen places in India so far. While CT scan provides highly detailed pictures of a patient’s anatomy, PET provides metabolic information.

GE Healthcare’s ‘Discovery Ste’, being installed at GIC combines both in a single system, helping doctors determine, in a single examination, whether a suspicious growth is cancerous or benign.

GE Healthcare’s PET/CT at GIC will aid early and accurate cancer detection and treatment, said Mr V. Raja, President and CEO, GE Healthcare South Asia. GE Cyclotron System at GIC will aid other hospitals in the region. GE Healthcare had installed India’s first PET, PET/CT and Cyclotron Systems at Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai.

“India’s healthcare sector has huge potential for investment. Our company has seen 200 per cent growth in the last two years.” India has three million cancer patients undergoing treatment.

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