A substantial majority of human death is associated with cardiac failure, not only in our country but also across the world. The changing life style is making the situation worse day by day. Unwanted deposition of fatty acids and glycerol inside the arterial cavity is causing series of problems ranging from stenosis to thrombosis. It is becoming very common even among the people within lower age group. Immediate intervention through medicine and surgery is becoming inevitable for a large section of comparatively young population to solve this type of cardiac problems and save their lives. Here lies the importance of understanding haemodynamics, the study of blood flow or the circulation through arteries, veins and other smaller conduits in human body.
In this position you will carry out research in the new field of small animal precision radiotherapy. You will operate in a multidisciplinary team of physicists, biologists, engineers and physicians who share great enthusiasm for small animal research to improve radiotherapy knowledge. The project focusses on the development and integration of imaging techniques such as CT, dual-energy CT, PET and optical imaging with the precision irradiator.The imaging modalities will be used to quantify the anatomy and physiology of tumors and their surrounding tissues, e.g. by determining the level of hypoxia in tumors. MAASTRO is developing a unique treatment planning system in collaboration with the manufacturer of the small animal irradiator.
Kochi: People who go for a CT scan or x-ray at hospitals and diagnostic centres in Kerala may be atserious radiation risk as many medical institutions in the state use junk X-ray tubes and CT scan machines that are discarded by Europe and the US.
Radiation devices,mainly X-ray tubes,whose fiveyear life term has expired,are being imported to Kerala in large numbersfrom theUS and Europe.Such devices cause serious health hazards.
We have alerted theAtomic Energy Regulatory Board about the import of poor quality radiation devices and itisup totheboardtotake a final call on permitting import of such devices, a senior official in the state health and family welfare department,who requested anonymity,said.
Following expert advice,the state government has decided to set up a Directorate of Radiation Safety (DRS ) to conduct quality check on all radiation devices used in hospitals and other institutions.This is the first time that such a body is being set up in the country.
Preliminary probes have revealed that the majority of imported devices are banned in the US and Europe due to high radiation risk, the official said.
According to data available with the state government,there are 2,500 centres in the state,which use over 6,000 radiation devices,including dental Xray,for diagnostic purposes.The government has decided to act on its own to check the quality of the radiation devices.In another two months time,the state will have DRS to check the quality and radiation level of the devices installed at all diagnostic centres and hospitals in the state, said DRS director-designate K A Davis.
Currently,a few private agencies are conducting quality checkof radiation devices.But they enter into an unholy nexus with diagnostic centres to issue certificates.The DRS will conduct a mandatory periodic quality check of the devices at all hospitals and diagnostic centres.Above all,centres planning to install new devices should get it approved from the DRS after a spot inspection, Davis explained.
Researchers at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have developed a novel device to continuously and systematically monitor the dynamics of premature babies’ breathing. The small, noninvasive device dubbed “Pneumonitor,” makes possible the early detection of respiratory problems, allowing for preventative care before the onset of complications. The findings were published in the January issue of Intensive Care Medicine.
Dr. Danny Waisman of the Technion Rappaport Faculty of Medicine and Carmel Medical Center and Prof. Amir Landesberg of the Technion Department of Biomedical Engineering, the device’s developers, say the device has been already been tested on animals in different disease models – including asthma and respiratory tract disorders.
Kochi: People who go for a