Scanner to be installed

 By LEAH OMAE

PEOPLE with internal diseases and injuries can undergo scanning at the Port Moresby General Hospital once a K3 million magnetic resonance imaging facility is installed.

Hospital chief executive officer Grant Muddle said the machine was funded by the National Fisheries Authority and included training and maintenance.

“PMGH will offer services under the PNG government free primary and subsidised care policy. This means any charges levied by the hospital may be more accessible by majority of the population,” he said.

“Having the MRI at the facility also allows for us to partner with the University of PNG’s school of medicine and health sciences to train more radiologists and radiographers on these machines for future generation,” he said.

The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) facility is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to investigate structure functioning of the body.

The technique is widely used in hospitals for medical diagnosis, determining the stage of diseases and follow up without exposure to ionising radiation.

It has an impact on diagnosis and treatment.

“We have trained radiologists and radiographers, although further training is required and scheduled,” he said. “We have a biomedical team who can look after the basic maintenance of the machine. However, the hospital has comprehensive maintenance contract in place for machine with the suppliers.”

Work is underway to accommodate the MRI machine in the hospital.

NFA gave K500,000 worth of medical supplies to provinces such as Manus, Madang, Milne Bay and Chimbu.