Karachi:
For the first time in Pakistan, immediate biopsy reports on suspected cancer patients will be possible in a government hospital. As part of development projects for the next exercise, the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center (JPMC) will introduce a confocal system of instant digital pathology, allowing real -time detection of tumor nature and spreads during surgery.
Patients with cancer suspected will now receive immediate biopsy reports even in government hospitals. The JPMC should become the first Pakistan public hospital to implement the Confocal Instant Digital Pathology System, allowing surgeons to determine the type of tumor and the extent in real time during surgery.
Professor Shahid Rasool, executive director of Jinnah Karachi hospital, said technology was previously available in private hospitals. However, he will now be installed at Jinnah Hospital with the support of the Sindh Health Department as part of the Sindh’s annual development program.
He said that technology deals with samples and creates slides during surgery, which immediately determines whether a tumor is present and, in the affirmative, how far it has spread. Patients will no longer have to wait 14 to 15 days for the results of the biopsy.
Two advanced units will be purchased at the cost of RS366 million. A unit will be installed in the surgical complex, benefiting the departments of general surgery, orthopedics, thoracic and ENT, while the second unit will be installed in the gynecology department.
The goal of the project is not only to increase the speed and precision of biopsies but also to reduce the time that patients remain under anesthesia. Current methods, such as the frozen section and basic biopsies, take more time to produce reports, which can endanger the lives of patients.
The project also includes training for medical staff and improving technical expertise in parallel with the purchase of modern machines.
Hospital officials have said that this system will be particularly beneficial for poor patients and the middle class who cannot afford expensive treatments in private hospitals.
