Indigenous linacs to be installed in six hospitals

Soumya Viswanathan - Mumbai

The government is planning to install Integrated Medical Linacs (IML) for radiotherapy in six hospitals across the country. The Rs 15-crore project is an endeavour to develop indigenous IMLs, which is expected to halve the cost of IML. The first set of two IMLs is expected to be ready by June 2003. The next four will take another year.

An initiative of the Ministry of Information and Technology, the project is funded by the Jai Vigyan National Science and Technology Mission, under the Ministry of Science & Technology. Around Rs six crore has been already utilised. The government has tied up with several Indian development companies for this purpose. Says S L Kapoor of TSG Integrations, one of companies involved in developing IML, "The expected price of each piece of IML is Rs 2.5 crore. Imported equipment for the similar set of functions costs more than Rs 4.5 crore today."

The Integrated Medical Linac consists of Linear Accelerator (6 MV Photon energy with 300 cGy per minute output), 3D Treatment Planning System (TPS) and Virtual Simulation System.

The Ministry of Information Technology, which has been supporting development of Linear Accelerator and 3D TPS for many years initiated the development of integrated medical linacs more than two years back by appointing Delhi-based TSG Integrations, Society for Microwave Engineering and Electronics Research (SAMEER), Mumbai, Central Scientific Instruments Organization (CSIO), Chandigarh, and Panecia Medical Technologies, Bangalore. SAMEER manufactures high energy microwave tube, TSG provides radiotherapy treatment planning system and Virtual Simulation. TSG integrations that developed the first indigenous software for radiotherapy will integrate its 3D TPS product ASHA into the system. Panecia does the fabrication and will integrate this into marketable equipment. CSIO has expertise in instruments and optics technology which is being used for the design of IML. CSIO is providing this technology and plays an important role in precision and quality features implementation in IML.

While the six IML units are already paid for through the funds allocated for the project, the government is of the view that if the hospitals pay for it even partially, it will show their commitment. The ministry of IT suggests that the grant which government hospitals get from DGHS/ Ministry of health for purchasing capital equipment for cancer should be utilised for IML. If there is a shortfall in the amount of grant, the Ministry of IT plans to cover it from project funds.

As of today only six hospitals in the country (both private and public) have IMLs, all of which are imported from the US. Radiotherapy can be delivered through linear accelerator alone or linear accelerator with network treatment. However, most of the modern linacs available are with network treatment. Network treatment allows the treatment to be planned on a 3D treatment planning system. The linear accelerator then executes what is planned. That is why it is called integrated medical linac. Speaking on the project, Dr V Kannan, head, radiation oncology, Hinduja Hospital and adviser to the Ministry, says that indigenisation would be a boon to India since it would bring down the cost of equipment and increase IML penetration across the country. The equipment is being planned for installation not only in major cities but also major drainage areas with a lot of cases. The cobalt machines will have to be slowly replaced, he added.

After the six IML units are produced, participating organisations will be free to produce and sell this equipment as a commercial venture. SAMEER, PMT and TSG are keen to pursue this to the commercialization level. For the Ministry of IT, commercialisation is still at the concept level.