Nansha's 1st nuclear medicine department put into operation

View of the hospital's newly-added PET-CT machine. [Photo/Guangzhou Daily]

Nansha Hospital of Guangzhou First People's Hospital held an opening ceremony of its nuclear medicine department, as well as its newly-added PET-CT imaging device on Oct 12.

A PET-CT machine, which stands for Positron Emission Tomography-Computed Tomography, is one of the most high-end medical imaging diagnostic pieces of medical equipment today.

It has very important clinical value in identifying differentiations in benign and malignant tumors, tumor staging, the formulation of treatment plans, as well as the evaluation of efficacy.

The nuclear medicine department has introduced three chief physicians, one deputy chief physician, three physicians, three technicians, and five nurses. It covers a building area of about 1,100 square meters, including the 600-sq-m PET-CT center and five standard radionuclide therapy wards.

As Nansha's first nuclear medicine department, it has filled the district's gap in this medical field. In addition, it is equipped with 20 beds, which is the largest number of beds among Guangdong's nuclear medicine departments.

Zhu Xusheng, head of the department, said that Guangzhou's radionuclide treatment wards and beds are seriously insufficient. Patients have to queue for three to six months before they can move in. After these wards are put into use, the shortage of beds will be greatly alleviated.