The Department of Radio Diagnosis and Imaging at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) is installing the first-ever Digital Subtraction Angiography (DSA) facility in the country, dedicated for basic research in animals.
Head of Department Prof MS Sandhu said that this facility will aim at testing new drugs and hardware that can potentially be used for treatment of human disorders.
The DSA machine is a sophisticated digital X-ray emitting machine, which helps in the precise evaluation of vessels inside the human or animal body and displays the vascular system of that particular organ and the blood flow pattern.
Interventional radiologists use this machine to perform angiography of various parts of the body such as brain, liver, kidney, etc. It is also used in opening blocked arteries, preventing leakage of arteries, precise chemotherapy, and radiation to the tumor in the affected organ.
Before any medicine is brought to the market, its trial is done on animals. Currently, due to the lack of appropriate testing facilities for newer devices aimed at interventional treatment of disorders in India, almost all these certifications are done in the USA, Europe, and East-Asian countries. This often involves delay in treatment coming to Indian shores and is significantly expensive due to high import duties.
With the establishment of this lab, it is likely that this problem will be overcome to some extent. “The establishment of the country’s first digital subtraction angiography lab at PGI is a matter of pride for Chandigarh. This will speed up research work and now, we will not have to wait for testing in another country for research certification,” said Prof Jagat Ram, director of PGI.
