Emergency Radiology, a medical concept in the West where the casualty wing of a hospital is equipped with state-of-the-art radiology equipment like CT scans, is now available in hospitals across Kerala.

Senior radiologist, S. Pradeep, central council member, Indian Radiological and Imaging Association (IRIA), told IANS that Kerala certainly leads the rest of the country when it comes to radiological equipment that's available in most hospitals in the state."We have come a long way from the X-ray days and today the availability of CT scan machines is a huge blessing, not just for the patients who come to the emergency casualty due to accidents or after suffering a stroke, but for the medical professionals working in the emergency departments at hospitals," Pradeep said.According to an official who deals in radiological equipment, in Kerala there are more than 210 CT scan machines and around 100 MRI machines.

"Around 18 months back, the figures were 160 CT scan and 85 MRI machines. Kerala, being an extremely health conscious state, on an average since the past few years around 30-40 new scan machines and 10 MRI machines are installed a year. These figures are going to go up in the coming years," an official wishing anonymity, said.The price of CT scan machines ranges from Rs 2 crore to Rs 10 crore, while MRI machines cost from Rs 7 crore to Rs 15 crore, depending on the features.The 122nd anniversary of the discovery of X-rays by Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen which led to the stunning medical and scientific possibilities of medical imaging was celebrated by the radiologists in the state on Wednesday.

Manoj T. Pillai, president, Trivandrum City Chapter IRIA, called upon radiologists to take responsibility in Emergency Departments and also on the need to develop skills for fast reporting.Meanwhile, the Kerala government has stepped in to see that a regulation is in place to ensure that private CT scan centres do not fleece patients.For this, a new Bill is proposed which will have guidelines on the rates to be charged and also a treatment protocol that should be in force, so as to avoid unnecessary tests.