Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Clumax Diagnostics - a Medall company announces the launch of HIFU, a breakthrough technology for treatment of uterine fibroids

Clumax Diagnostics Pvt Ltd (a Medall company) today announced the launch of a breakthrough MRI-guided high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) solution from Philips at its facility at Bashyam Circle, Sadashivnagar in Bangalore. The announcement was made by Dr. Srinivasan Radhesh, Chief Radiologist, Clumax Diagnostics along with Dr. Sham Sokka, CTO & Director – Research & Clinical Science and Mr. Raveendran Gandhi, Sr. Director – Image Guided Therapy, Philips Healthcare, India.




The Philips MRI Guided HIFU system has been clinically approved for the treatment of non-cancerous tumors like uterine fibroids and malignancies like bone metastases. MRI guided HIFU offers a non-invasive alternative to traditional treatments for uterine fibroids in women. It combines the precision of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to map the fibroids and monitor the treatment with safe ultrasound energy (HIFU) to coagulate & de-naturize the proteins in benign fibroid tissue or cancerous tumor tissue without damaging intervening tissue. In contrast to the existing treatment options of surgery to remove fibroids, MRI-Guided HIFU from Philips offers women a quicker, non-invasive and precise treatment option. The entire procedure is performed in just a few hours without any hospital admission. The patient can return home from the clinic or hospital the same day and return to a normal life within a couple of days. The benefits for women include – no surgery, no scars, no anesthesia, no radiation, more precise image guided treatment, no hospital admission, preservation of the uterus, quicker recovery, and lesser stress.



Uterine fibroids are noncancerous growths of the uterus that often appear during childbearing years. Also called myomas, uterine fibroids are not associated with an increased risk of uterine cancer and almost never develop into cancer. As many as 1 out of 4 women have uterine fibroids sometime during their lives, but many are unaware of them because they often cause no symptoms. A doctor may discover them incidentally during a pelvic exam or prenatal ultrasound.



In women who have symptoms, the most common symptoms of uterine fibroids include heavy menstrual bleeding, prolonged menstrual periods (seven days or more of menstrual bleeding), pelvic pressure or pain, frequent urination, difficulty emptying your bladder, constipation, backache or leg pains. Previous treatment options for women with uterine fibroids included mainly surgery either for removal of the fibroid or the uterus as a whole.



Speaking at the launch, Dr. Srinivasan Radhesh, said “MR guided HIFU is a highly precise, safe, radiation-free, non-invasive treatment option and comes as a shot in the arm for women living with fibroids. An extremely patient friendly treatment, it allows a doctor access to a three-dimensional planning of the procedure and offers real time temperature monitoring during the ablation to control the amount of energy delivered to the tissue by the HIFU system.”



Dr. Sham Sokka, added, “The future of medicine in our view will be image-guided, non-invasive and without radiation, and MRI-HIFU represents the convergence of these 3 principles for improving the lives of women with uterine fibroids and people with malignant tumors. The launch of MRI-HIFU is yet another testimonial to Philips’ commitment to bring cutting-edge innovations to solve key healthcare challenges like tumors that face India.”



“This launch marks the first installation of MRI guided HIFU in Karnataka,” added Mr. Raveendran Gandhi. “This will help ensure greater accessibility to the treatment for women suffering from uterine fibroids.”



Philips’ MRI Guided HIFU has been launched at several leading centers around the world including the National Institutes of Health and the Johns Hopkins Medical Center in the US.



About Clumax Diagnostics – A Medall Company:

“Clumax Diagnostics, a premier hi-tech Diagnostic centre in South Bangalore was acquired by Medall in Feb 2010. Clumax Diagnostics offers comprehensive diagnostic services under one roof from the latest CT, MRI, Nuclear Medicine, Ultrasound & Dopplers, Mammography, X-Rays, Cardiology & Neurology services, Gastroenterology services and Clinical consultation with all Master Health checkups.



Clumax was the one of the first diagnostics centre in South India to offer the 64 slice Cardiac CT which has changed the ways of early diagnosis with the best in class image quality with precise radiologist opinion. Clumax Diagnostics has achieved the status of an ISO 9001: 2008 Company, with its assured standards of report quality and patient care. Clumax Diagnostics has also recently received the NABL (National Accredition board for Laboratories) certification and its one of the very few centres in India to achieve the distinction.



Clumax at Indirangar boasts of the first Dual Source CT in the South India. With dual source CT, the use of Beta blockers is completely avoided as the scanner is capable of taking the image in 1 heartbeat!!! The centre also has other offerings like the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) machine the latest addition in the comprehensive Laboratory services that we provide.



Clumax became only the third centre in Bangalore to have a high end 3 Tesla MRI.

For all its services, Clumax was praised by the public and media as well, the example being the title of “No 1 Diagnostic Centre in Bangalore” that Clumax was adjudged in the November 09 issue of The Week. Medall now has presence in Karnataka, under the brand name of Clumax in Jayanagar, Indiranagar, Sadashivnagar, Wilson Garden, Nelamangala, Padmanabhanagar, Richmond Circle & Hosur along with Shimoga & Mysore.”