Shot in the arm

Jamshedpur, April 25: After CT scan machine, Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical (MGM) College and Hospital would acquire a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine shortly.

A proposal in this regard has been sent to the state health department. Once the MRI machine gets installed, the medical college hospital would be able to detect diseases effectively.

R.Y. Chowdhury, the superintendent of the medical college hospital, said the need for an MRI machine was felt as in a number of critical cases, the doctors require a clearer picture of the patient’s anatomy so as to detect the problem.

He said the set of MRI machine would cost Rs 5 crore and would be installed near the CT scan centre in the department of radiology.

Chowdhury said that an MRI is done when a CT scan on the patient fails to detect the problem. “An MRI is a refined version of CT scan. What a CT scan fails to do, the MRI can. But it is a costly affair,” he said.

According to the superintendent, a patient has to pay Rs 4,000 for an MRI in private clinics, but when the same would be much cheaper at MGM Medical College and Hospital.

“The rate of the MRI test will depend on the instructions from the authorities concerned in the department of health. Moreover, the rate charged in RIMS for MRI tests would not be a bad idea to accept, but we still expect to receive a tariff chart from the health department,” said Chowdhury.

He, however, said that below-poverty-line people would not be charged anything for the MRI.

“Being a costly machine, it has to be handled by well-trained technicians. Moreover, the MRI unit must have adequate number of staff, including nursing staff, so that patients do not face any inconvenience in undergoing the treatment,” said Chowdhury.

Chowdhury said as only serious patients would need to undergo MRI test, the MGM management has to treat them with utmost care.