The Hindu : MRI equipment at GH not functioning

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 13, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu-Chennai

MRI equipment at GH not functioning

By Ramya Kannan

Chennai AUG. 12. For 15 days now, the MRI equipment at the Government General Hospital here, which provides subsidised imaging services to patients, has not been functioning.

This has put the public to a lot of inconvenience, as they have had to turn to private MRI centres, where the rates charged are nearly twice the amount being charged for brain and full body MRIs at the GH. While a brain scan at the GH MRI centre costs Rs. 3,500, the rate in the open market starts at around Rs. 7,000 and for a full body scan, much higher.

Patients plead that the service be restored as soon as possible.

Crippled by a technical snag, the machine broke down a couple of weeks ago. According to hospital sources, the problem initially was thought to be with the liquid helium content. The level of the helium, an essential component, came down and had to be replenished. Even after the helium level was raised with stocks procured from abroad, the problem persisted. "The exact cause is not yet identified, but maintenance engineers suspect that it could be a problem with the computer. They hope to isolate the exact problem and rectify it soon. However, even after that problem is rectified, it will take a week for the magnet to recharge. We can resume services only after that," according to a GH source.

Though functioning within the GH, the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation is responsible for the maintenance of the equipment. A private company has taken up the contract for maintenance of the machine.

Meanwhile, hospital sources said though 25-30 MRIs were performed everyday, the non-functioning of the machine had not really hampered work. "In teaching institutions like ours, we use it only as a last resort, where the surgeon has some doubts in diagnosis. In most cases, we can make do with CT scans," a GH doctor says. Patients who do not seek treatment at the hospital are also allowed to use the MRI at subsidised rates and they want the facility restored immediately.

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