The Centrally sponsored Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research in Puduchery will soon offer a facility for poor patients through advanced nuclear imaging technique. The institute Director S C Parija on Monday laid the foundation after performing rituals on the precincts of the hospital to establish the PET-CT (Position Emission Tomography and Computed Tomography) at a cost of Rs 23 crore. Medical Superintendent J Balachander and faculty members were among those present.

A release from the Director said that the PET-CT scanner would be installed in a separate building near the Regional Cancer Centre in JIPMER. The Standing Committee of the Institute had approved Rs 23 crore for the project. The release said that JIPMER would be the first government run institute to have the first state-of-the-art equipment meeting the needs of poor patients. The scan would provide metabolic information of cancer cells unlike conventional CT scanners.

The new facility would help in accurately panning the management of the cancer patients. This whole body scannning technique would help identify the extent of the spread of cancer, the response to the chemo radiation treatment and cancer recurrence in its earlier stage, the release said. It said that the PET CT would also help diagnose some degenerative neurological diseases and heart diseases. The hospital would levy only a nominal fee, the release said.