Lok Nayak Hospital (LNJP) in Delhi has commissioned a 3-Tesla MRI machine and a dual-source 256-slice CT scanner, a move expected to double its daily diagnostic capacity and reduce waiting times for patients seeking free scans at the government hospital.
The new equipment was unveiled by Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Health Minister Pankaj Kumar Singh at LNJP on Thursday. Funded through Indian Oil Corporation Limited’s corporate social responsibility programme, the two machines cost about Rs 40 crore, according to officials.
The installation addresses a severe capacity problem at the hospital, which sees an average daily OPD footfall of around 5,000 patients. Patients had reportedly faced waiting periods of two to three years for MRI scans because the hospital earlier had only one functional MRI machine and one CT scanner. Although the diagnostic tests were free, the shortage of equipment and staff delayed diagnosis and treatment.
An LNJP official told The Indian Express that the hospital’s MRI capacity is expected to rise from 30-40 scans a day to 80-100. CT capacity is projected to increase from about 150 scans daily to around 300. The increase will allow more patients to receive critical tests within the hospital instead of being directed elsewhere, officials said.
The dual-source CT scanner uses two X-ray tubes, allowing it to capture images faster and making it suitable for examining moving organs such as the heart. The 3-Tesla MRI operates at twice the magnetic field strength of commonly used 1.5-Tesla machines and is designed to produce sharper images of the brain and nervous system.
According to the Health Minister, the equipment will support earlier diagnosis of heart, brain and cancer-related conditions, as well as other serious illnesses. He said the tests would remain free for Delhi residents and that patients would no longer need to leave the hospital for critical diagnostics.
The new MRI scanner has a 70-centimetre bore, the opening through which patients enter the machine, and includes an automated system intended to adjust examinations to individual patient needs. A screen inside the scanner can play videos or songs for patients who feel anxious during the procedure. Officials also said that shorter scan times would help reports reach patients faster.
The equipment upgrade comes alongside other diagnostic and maternal-health services at LNJP. The hospital’s Department of Medical Genetics, inaugurated last May, is described as the first medical genetics department in a Delhi government hospital. The Health Minister said doctors can diagnose genetic disorders from a single drop of blood and that Mission ANMOL is being expanded to cover 63 rare diseases.
The hospital’s genetic laboratory tests more than 14,000 newborn samples each month, according to earlier reporting by The Indian Express. LNJP also operates a Lactation Management Unit that provides breastfeeding counselling, safe milk collection and storage, and donor human milk for preterm, low-birth-weight and critically ill babies.
