Kovai Medical Center and Hospital (KMCH) inaugurated ProSense Systems, the Next Generation Cryoablation Technology to treat early breast cancer at KMCH Auditorium on Tuesday.
This equipment was unveiled by Tammy Ben Haim, Consulate General of Israel in the presence of Dr Nalla G Palaniswami, Chairman, Dr Arun N Palaniswami, Executive Director, Dr Mathew Cherian, Chief of Radiology Services, Dr Murugan, Medical Director, Dr Subramaniam, Consultant Radiation Oncologist and Dr Rupa Renganathan, Lead Consultant, Breast Center of KMCH.
An Israeli company, IceCure Medical, has developed the ProSense Cryoablation System. ProSense is minimally invasive with optimal cosmetic outcomes, enables breast cancer patients and non-cancerous tumours to be treated relatively painlessly and is proven to have benefits not only for breast cancer but also for lung, liver, renal and bone cancers. IceCure is the third system in India and the first in South India to be installed.
The ProSense also shows excellent promise in the treatment of early breast cancer. The most significant advantage of this treatment option is that it is generally done under local anaesthesia and is relatively pain-free and without a stay in the hospital. The procedure can be performed under light sedation with a shortened hospital stay to treat other types of cancer.
Dr Subramaniam delivered the welcome address and briefed about the Comprehensive Cancer Centre at the hospital. He mentioned that KMCH had been a pioneer and trendsetter in cancer care and Cryotherapy will be another new beginning in this region, where certain cancer cases can have a minimally invasive procedure to prevent the trauma of cancer treatment. He said this is the first hospital to bring image-guided therapy, stereotactic radiosurgery and respiratory-gated therapy into this region and also the first to bring hyper arch technology into the country.
“It is futuristic, and we will help several patients, especially those with early cancer. The aim of this innovation is mainly to make the journey of patients with tumours much more signified and more dignified”, he stated.
He described the state-of-art equipment available in the Breast Care Centre and branches of Oncology in the Cancer Centre i.e., Surgical Oncology, Radiation Oncology and Medical Oncology, etc. He also briefed the History of the hospital.
Dr Nalla G. Palaniswami delivered the Presidential address. He said that they were keen to invest in any technology that would bring new hope, especially in cancer. He was happy to see the transformation in cancer care around Coimbatore to match international standards and also the quality of work performed by the surgical team in both invasive and minimally invasive Onco –surgery.
He also mentioned that KMCH was the first centre in this region to bring in advanced surgical therapies like robotic surgery. He described about the treatment that involves taking a needle under ultrasound or CT scan guidance into the centre of the tumour and destroying the tumour cells by freezing it with liquid nitrogen in a closed loop system.
Dr Arun Palaniswami introduced the Chief Guest and also agreed that today hospitals like Kovai Medical Centre could offer treatment options that are inferior to what he has experienced in the United States.
Dr Matthew Cherian was pleased with how the interventional radiology department progressed, especially in cancer treatment. He also mentioned that Dr Rupa Renganathan, Lead Consultant of breast Breast Imaging, would use the equipment exclusively to treat early breast cancer. Dr Venkatesh and Dr Sreman, lead consultants in abdominal and Onco- imaging and interventions, will use this technology to treat cancer in other body parts.
The general feeling was that this was a breakthrough therapy with hardly any complications and side effects which would prove to be a boom in this part of the country. He mentioned that this is one of the few hospitals which got sub-divisions in Radiology, to make this department future-ready for Artificial Intelligence coming over.
The Chief Guest said, “This innovative Israel technology IceCure ProSense mission is to make cancer treatment safer and more effective by providing minimally invasive solutions for patients around the world. It is used to cure different types of cancer/tumours but this will be the first place in India where it is used for women to fight Breast Cancer.” “Tamilnadu strives for innovation, strives to learn and strive to experiment and even more”, she highlighted.
Dr Rupa Renganathan proposed the vote of thanks.
While asking about the duration of recovery, the doctors said, “When the tumour cells are frozen it dies and can be recovered immediately, but it takes a few months to disintegrate and it does not cause major side effects.” And they added that this technology could be used to treat tumours no larger than 3 cm.