Naveen Approves Establishment of Medical Cyclotron Unit in Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has approved the proposal for the establishment of a state-of-the-art Medical Cyclotron unit in the Tata Memorial Cancer Hospital (TMCH) being established in the NISER campus at Jatni.

The State Government would be funding upto Rs 150 crore for the purpose. The unit would add to Odisha now becoming a research and applications hub of Medical Cyclotron in the entire South East Asian region.

Secretary of Health and Family Welfare Shalini Pandit said, the “Medical Cyclotron” unit will produce radioactive isotopes required for critical imaging procedures such as the PET scan for the treatment of cancer and other critical ailments. Presently, Odisha obtains the isotopes on a daily basis from Hyderabad, Mumbai or Kolkata and the isotopes remain effective for only a few hours. Transportation time also kept its reach limited to a few centres”.

She added that the proposed state-of-the-art Medical Cyclotron facility would be unique to the entire South East Asian region. It would be “operated by NISER in close collaboration with TMC, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre, Kolkata, Board of Radiation and Isotope Technology, Department of Atomic Energy and Atomic Energy Regulatory Board.

Available information showed that the outcomes of this world-class standard facility would include, the production of medically useful radioisotopes, South East Asian regional facility for the research and Development in the area of nuclear medicine, a national facility for the Research and Development in basic sciences, skill development of human resources for applied science courses, and training of undergraduate and postgraduate students.