Lok Nayak Hospital (LNJP) in Delhi has added a 3-Tesla MRI machine and a dual-source 256-slice CT scanner, equipment that officials expect will double the hospital’s daily diagnostic capacity and reduce waiting times for patients who currently face delays of up to two to three years for MRI scans.
The machines were unveiled on Thursday by Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta and Health Minister Pankaj Kumar Singh. Funded through Indian Oil Corporation Limited’s corporate social responsibility programme, the two machines cost about Rs 40 crore, according to officials.
LNJP, the Capital’s largest government hospital, records an average outpatient footfall of around 5,000 patients a day. In September, The Indian Express reported that the hospital had only one functional MRI machine and one CT scanner. Although the scans are provided free of cost, the shortage of equipment and staff had delayed diagnosis and treatment for many patients.
An LNJP official told The Indian Express that the new equipment is expected to increase MRI capacity from about 30 to 40 scans a day to between 80 and 100 scans. CT capacity is expected to rise from around 150 scans a day to approximately 300.
The new CT scanner uses two X-ray tubes, allowing it to capture images faster than a conventional system. Officials said this would be useful for examining moving organs, including the heart, and for diagnosing conditions such as kidney stones. The 3-Tesla MRI machine operates at twice the magnetic field strength of the 1.5-Tesla machines commonly used in hospitals and is designed to produce sharper images, particularly of the brain and nervous system.
The MRI unit also has a 70-centimetre bore, or opening, which officials said would make the examination less confining for patients. An automated system adjusts to individual patient requirements, while a screen inside the machine can play videos or songs for patients who are anxious during the scan. Officials said the new machines would reduce scan times and help reports reach patients faster.
Health Minister Pankaj Kumar Singh said the equipment would allow patients to undergo critical tests within the hospital instead of being sent elsewhere. He said the machines would support the diagnosis of heart, brain and cancer-related conditions while keeping the tests free for Delhi residents.
The additions come alongside other diagnostic and maternal-health facilities at LNJP. The hospital’s Department of Medical Genetics, inaugurated last May, has been described by the Health Minister as the first medical genetics department in a Delhi government hospital. Doctors there can diagnose a genetic disorder from a single drop of blood, while Mission ANMOL is being expanded to cover 63 rare diseases.
The hospital’s genetic laboratory tests more than 14,000 newborn samples each month for various rare genetic diseases, according to earlier reporting by The Indian Express. LNJP also houses 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.
The new MRI and CT machines are expected to begin easing the hospital’s diagnostic backlog by increasing daily testing capacity without shifting patients away from the public hospital system.
