Following is from a report in Expressbuzz.com.

… a group of non-resident Oriyas have joined hands to set up Orissa’s first Nuclear Medicine Centre. The state-of-the-art facility under the name of Utkal Institute of Medical Sciences would be inaugurated here tomorrow.

Nuclear medicine has emerged as an important speciality not only for pinpointed diagnosis of complex diseases and conditions but also treatment procedures. It utilises radio isotopes produced in nuclear reactors for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. The dynamic and functional parameters along with the capability to detect substances at molecular levels has made it complementary to CT, MRI and USG-based scans of the body.

According to Director and Chief of Nuclear Medicine of the Institute Prof BK Das, the Nuclear medicine is useful in cardiology, endocrinology, neurology and nephro-urology and Oncology (cancer). It helps in making accurate diagnosis, assessing prognosis and selecting the most cost-effective therapy as well as monitoring of its efficacy.

While Nuclear medicine has become an integral part of healthcare in other countries, in India it is in its infancy. With a population of over 100 crores, the country has only 175 facilities, mostly in the private sector.

Orissa with over four crore people has no such facility and for investigations and therapy patients have to go to either Kolkata, Delhi and Chennai.