The President of the Galician Government, Alfonso Rueda, announced that the Council authorized at the meeting held today the renewal contract for the range of gamma cameras (SPECT-CT equipment) in the different nuclear medicine services of the Galician Health Service. “The Xunta continues to advance in the implementation and improvement of high-tech health equipment in public hospitals, such as these equipments that allow diagnosing heart, neurological and kidney diseases and that are also used in the treatment of cancer”, he pointed out.
Rueda explained that the objective of implanting and renewing these kits is to “increase the overall survival and quality of life of patients”, since it is technology that facilitates the early detection of diseases and helps patients receive treatment earlier. necessary.
The head of the Xunta highlighted that 6,554,655 euros will be invested to acquire 9 new high-tech kits that will be installed between 2022 and 2023 to replace the current kits in the Lucus Augusti hospitals in Lugo (1), in the University of Ourense ( 2), at the University Hospital of Santiago (2) and at the Meixoeiro Hospital in Vigo (3). In addition, at the Montecelo hospital in Pontevedra, the purchase of the SPECT-CT equipment will be a novelty since until now this health area did not have a nuclear medicine service, which will be launched, together with the radiotherapy service, with the start-up of the Great Montecelo.
Thus, in particular, in 2022 the installation of a new gamma camera is planned at the Meixoeiro Hospital in Vigo, and another of these pieces of equipment at the University Clinical Hospital of Santiago de Compostela. For its part, in 2023 two SPECT-CT kits will be renewed at the Ourense University Hospital, one at the Lucus Augusti Hospital in Lugo, a second at the Clinical Hospital in Santiago and two more at the Meixoeiro Hospital in Vigo. Finally, in 2023, the first gamma camera will be installed at the Montecelo de Pontevedra hospital, coinciding with the start-up of the Gran Montecelo, the expansion of the Pontevedra hospital that will create its nuclear medicine service.
In this way, five of the seven Galician health areas will have new high-tech equipment that allows the diagnosis of cardiac, neurological, endocrinological, renal or musculoskeletal diseases, as well as the detection and treatment of oncological diseases. Only the Ferrol area, which does not have a nuclear medicine service, and the Coruña area, which performs diagnoses through the Galician Oncology Center Foundation, remain outside the contract.
Obtaining three-dimensional images of the organs
Nuclear medicine uses small amounts of radioactive materials called radiotracers, which are usually injected into the bloodstream, inhaled, or swallowed. The radiotracer travels through the area being examined and delivers energy in the form of gamma rays, which are detected by a special camera and a computer to create images of the inside of your body.
These gamma cameras or SPECT equipment allow these metabolic/functional examinations to be carried out depending on the organ or system to be studied. SPECT scans detect the radiotracer’s energy emissions in the body and convert them into an image. The heads that make up the gamma cameras have the capacity to move around the patient; Thus, three-dimensional images of the organ to be studied can be obtained.
They are primarily used to diagnose and track the progression of heart disease, such as blocked coronary arteries. There are also radioactive tracers to detect bone disorders, gallbladder diseases and intestinal bleeding.
Completed the investment of European funds in high technology
This contract completes those planned in 2022 by the Xunta to channel NextGeneration funds from the European Union towards the renovation and expansion of high-tech healthcare. For the time being, Sergas has already awarded the contracts for four linear accelerators for 8.9 million euros, nine MRIs for 10.5 million euros, 34 CT scans for 21.1 million and three PET-CT kits for 5.4 million.
In addition to them, the Consello da Xunta has already authorized this year other tenders derived from this use of Next Generation funds, still pending resolution, such as the acquisition of seven interventional cardiology kits for 5.9 million euros and four interventional vascular radiology and four interventional neurovascular radiology teams for 8.4 million euros. On the other hand, although it did not require authorization from the Council for the amount, the acquisition of two brachytherapy kits for around 1 million euros was also processed.
In total, it is an investment of almost 68 million euros, which exceeds the 61 planned, given that the Xunta made the decision to complement the Next Generation funds with other funds from its own budget to acquire kits of gammas superior to those financed , something that has already happened in CT contracts (to incorporate spectral technology CT) or in magnetic resonance imaging.
This renewal and expansion of high health technology seeks to increase overall survival and quality of life for people by diagnosing diseases in early stages, enabling rapid therapeutic intervention, with special attention to pathologies with the greatest health impact, such as chronic diseases, oncological diseases, rare diseases and neurological diseases.
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