Free dental camp for children of Afghan refugees at AIIMS on Saturday
The aim is to provide them with essential dental care and promote oral health awareness.
For the first time in country virtual bronchoscopy navigation (VBN), an advanced facility for diagnosis and treatment of patients with small tumour-like spots in lungs, has been installed at AIIMS, Delhi.
“Most of the patients with lung cancer come in advanced stages of the disease which leaves limited options that can be offered to them. If the disease is diagnosed early, definitive treatment can be offered and cure rates can be improved,” AIIMS director Randeep Guleria said.
Talking about the machine installed Karan Madan, additional spokesperson of AIIMS, said: “Lung diseases are increasing and a large number of patients seek treatment for pulmonary problems. It is not uncommon to find patients with small tumour-like spots in lungs which are picked up by X-rays and CT scans.”
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Informing about the benefit of the newly installed VBN machine, Madan opined that small lung lesions can very commonly be cancer and if not diagnosed on time they can increase in size and the cancer can spread to other body parts. Not only cancer, small lung lesions can also be related to diseases like tuberculosis.
“By just seeing the appearance of these lesions on CT scans or chest X-rays, no definite diagnosis can be made. For that a biopsy is required, in which a needle is used to puncture the chest wall to reach the spot,” the AIIMS spokesperson said.
The VBN system allows getting samples from these small lung lesions with extreme precision and safety by using a bronchoscope, thereby increasing the likelihood of making a clear cut diagnosis.
The machine uses the CT scan image of a patient to generate a 3D view of the windpipe, following which a bronchoscope can be passed through the windpipe to reach the abnormal areas by avoiding puncturing the lung and reducing complications.
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