Ace dengue tester at IGIMS
2 min readPatna: Apheresis, a state-of-the-art machine used for extraction of platelets from blood, was installed at Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS) on Thursday. The machine, beneficial for dengue patients, would, however, become functional after a month, said the IGIMS blood bank in-charge Shailesh Kumar.
Presently, the machine is not available in any government hospital in the state. Among private facilities, Paras HMRI Hospital has this machine. IGIMS would now apply to the drug controller general of India (DCGI)’s office and state drug controller to get a no-objection certificate for using the machine, as it is mandated in the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.
“After getting no-objection certificate, we have to conduct training of our department officials on how to use the machine. The company, whose machine has been installed, would come to train officials. All this would take around a month’s time,” said blood bank in-charge of IGIMS Shailesh. “Sometimes patients need transfusion of platelets, as their count drops in case of dengue. The apheresis machine, also called as single donor platelet concentrator (SDPC), extracts platelets from blood while other components of blood can be transfused again into the donor in a safe manner in which there would be no risk of contamination. This way wastage of blood can be saved,” Shailesh said. Health minister Mangal Pandey was shown the new machine at IGIMS on his visit to the health hub on Saturday.
On the occasion, the minister also inaugurated some new facilities, including a 2,000-seat library, a skill lab in which doctors would be taught about life-saving skills and a central sterile services department (CSSD) for sterilising equipment at the hospital.
He inaugurated a multi-fold gas pipeline through which oxygen would be supplied to the whole hospital and a new investigation building.
Courtesy: The Telegraph
