Army Hospital (Research and Referral) Delhi Cantt, Delhi

Army Hospital (Research & Referral), New Delhi  is the largest and the most prestigious Armed Forces hospital of India. It is a multi-super speciality hospital with highly qualified staff and ultra-modern sphisticated equipment and has a motto of constant improvement in facilities and patient care. In pursuit of excellence, it has added another feather in its cap with the acquisition of a state-of-the-art investigative capability in the form of a positron emission and computerised tomography scanner along with an 11 MeV dual beam Multi-Target Medical Cyclotron.In recent years, there has been a paradigm shift from traditional anatomical imaging to functional or metabolic imaging. Positron Emission Tomography (PET) is a diagnostic procedure used to create high resolution images to the distribution of positron emitting radionuclides in the body. It is well known that functional abnormalities occur in a diseased cell much before structural changes occur. Traditional imaging techniques like Computerised Tomography (CT) and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) detect anatomical details only which occur much later in the natural course of the disease. Detecting functional changes results in formulating treatment strategies very early and this results in significant reduction in morbidity and mortality.Army Chief univeiling the plaque to mark the inauguration of Medical CyclotronSurg Vice Admiral VK Singh, DG AFMS at R&R Hospital on the occasion of the inauguration of Gamma Knife Surgery CentrePositron Emission Tomography is the latest technological advancement in this direction and involves the use of ultra-short lived radioisotopes which half lives in minutes. These isotopes have to be produced in house using a particle accelerator called Medical Cyclotron. It will also have a well-equipped laboratory for making pharmaceuticals like Fluoro Deoxy Glucose (FDG) and quality control equipment like gas chromatography, thin layer chromatography and high performance layer chromatography to conform to all safe-drug regulations. The facility was formally inaugurated by Chief of the Army Staff, Gen JJ Singh. This technology is currently available only at BARC, Mumabi. Apollo Hospital, Hyderabad, AIIMS, New Delhi and now in Army Hospital R & R, New Delhi.The strides in medical advancements did not stop here. The foundation-stone of Gamma Knife Surgery Centre at Army Hospital (Research & Referral) was laid by Surg Vice Admiral VK Singh, DGAFMS and Senior Colonel Commmandat.Gamma knife surgery is a revolutionary tool which allows neurosurgeons to operate on brain tumours and other lesions in the brain without making a surgical incision. In this procedure, highly focused and destructive dose of Gamma radiation from 201 cobalt sources are targeted to a precisely defined volume of tissue within the brain leading to its loss of ability to divide and finally get destroyed. This is given in a single session and avoids potentially harmful radiation to surrounding brain structures. It is safe, accurate, reliable and reproducible. Because of its accuracy, it can be utilised to treat any lesion in the brain without jeopardizing any functional aspect. The patient lies comfortably in an air-conditioned environment with no pain and the procedure is completed within an hour and he goes home the very next day.More than 200,000 patients have been safely treated with focused gamma rays worldwide. Gamma knife surgery is done for brain tumours specially affecting the eloquent areas which are not amenable to safe neurosurgical procedures. It is also used for functional diseases like trigeminal neuralgia, Parkinson's disease, essential tremors and obsessive compulsive disorders. There are nearly 200 units in the world and three units in the capital which include one at AIIMS. See Less