A State-of-the-Art “Artificial Intelligence integrated PET/CT” was inaugurated by Sri Dr. G Srinivas Rao,  Director of Public Health & Family Welfare, Government of Telangana in the Nuclear Medicine Department at Yashoda Hospitals, Somajiguda on 4th February 2021 which also happens to be World Cancer Day.

“This year’s World Cancer Day’s theme, ‘I Am and I Will’, is all about you and your commitment to act. The new state-of-the-art artificial intelligence integrated PET CT scanner at Yashoda Hospital Somajiguda, is one more step towards our commitment to early detection of cancer. The new scanner is now two times faster than the old generation scanners primarily due to the advanced technology known as “Time of Flight”. The scanner provides the best quality images with reduced scanning duration and lesser radiation dose. Said Dr. G. Srinivasa Rao,  Director of Public Health & Family Welfare, Government of Telangana.

Yashoda Hospitals Somajiguda is well-equipped with a comprehensive Nuclear Medicine set up providing services like PET/CT, Gamma camera imaging, and radionuclide therapy under one roof. Apart from the newly upgraded imaging of FDG PET/CT, the department provides advanced and rare imaging like Ga-68 DOTA, Ga-68 PSMA, 18F DOPA PET/CTs, DAT imaging & WBC scans, apart from routine Gamma imaging like bone scan & renal scintigraphy.

Yashoda Hospitals Somajiguda is one of the busiest and high volume centres of radionuclide therapies for thyroid cancer, neuroendocrine tumours, and prostate cancer. The Centre also provides rare therapies like radiosynovectomy for inflammatory joint disease. Patients not only from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh but across India, visit us for these rare therapies. NextGen PET-CT is effective in the diagnosis of Cancer, Endocrine Abnormalities and Neurodegenerative Disease.” said Dr. Lingaiah Amidayala, Director – Medical Services, Yashoda Hospitals Group, Hyderabad.

The Combined PET/CT Scan at Yashoda Hospitals, Somajiguda merges PET and CT images and provides detailed information about the size, shape, and differentiating cancerous lesions from normal structures with accuracy. It is a diagnostic examination that combines two states of the art imaging modalities and produces 3 dimensional (3D) images of the body based on the detection of radiation from the emission of positrons. It helps in the early detection of cancer and any potential health problem that reveals how the tissues and organs are functioning by identifying a variety of conditions.

Dr. Hrushikesh Aurangabadkar and Dr. A Naveen Kumar Reddy, Consultants in Nuclear Medicine while explaining about the PET/CT said, “The cancer cells require a great deal of sugar, or glucose, to have enough energy to grow. PET scanning utilizes a radioactive molecule that is similar to glucose, called fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG). FDG accumulates within malignant cells because of their high rate of glucose metabolism. Once injected with this agent, the patient is imaged on the whole-body PET scanner to reveal cancer growth, which is usually difficult to characterize by conventional CT, X-Ray, or MRI”.

With this new technology, motion artifacts caused by respiration can be decreased and accurate diagnosis achieved.

– New Generation PET scan

– Time of flight technology

– Reduced scan duration by 50% and radiation exposure

– High Definition images

– 4D PET-CT (Motion sensors)

The use of PET scans will also help the doctors to more accurately detect the presence and location of new or recurrent cancer.

About Yashoda Group 

Yashoda Group of Hospitals has been providing quality healthcare for 3 decades for people with diverse medical needs. Under astute leadership and strong management, Yashoda Group of Hospitals has evolved as a centre of excellence in medicine providing the highest quality standards of medical treatment. Guided by the needs of patients and delivered by perfectly combined revolutionary technology even for rare and complex procedures, the Yashoda Group hosts medical expertise and advanced procedures by offering sophisticated diagnostic and therapeutic care in virtually every specialty and subspecialty of medicine and surgery. Currently, operating with 3 independent hospitals in Secunderabad, Somajiguda and Malakpet and an upcoming hospital (currently under development) in Hi-Tech city, Telangana which is expected to be one of the largest medical facilities in India and will be spread over 20 lakhs sq. ft. with a capacity of 2000 beds. With a constant and relentless emphasis on quality, excellence in service, empathy, Yashoda Group provides world-class healthcare services at affordable costs.