What are the trends shaping up in the MSK industry? And are there new research findings waiting to be uncovered within the MSK meeting that will help patient care significantly?
MSK Ultrasound has picked up over the last decade and it's because of a lot of pioneering work and efforts has gone into it from senior faculty in India. We do liaise with the international faculty as well. And we are seeing this increasing trend of using MSK Ultrasound. As it is easily available, it can reach all the corners of the country. Whenever one thinks of MSK imaging, one always first thinks of MRI. But that's not always the case. The first investigation should probably be an Ultrasound. Everything has its own advantages and limitations. There'll be areas in MSK where MRI will be far superior to Ultrasound. And we also need to know where Ultrasound is, you know, very effective and especially when it comes to dynamic studies because we can do a lot of dynamic movements we can assess the patients when they are doing all these movements, which is not a possibility with MRI, hence, it is a fantastic tool. Now, over some time we have these newer things coming up, we have been talking about microflow imaging, higher sensitivity, and colorful imaging. We are talking about using elastography in MSK. So all in all, these trends are catching up. We are not just limited to its usage on shoulders, we are using it even for Pain Management Therapies. We are hoping to use contrast in some form in MSK probably. There will be advancements that we cannot even think of at this point. To sum it up MSK Ultrasound is a very important modality and we are doing our level best to promote it so that it's reaching all corners of this country and to maximize its use.
Fatty liver disease is unfolding as almost, an endemic in India. So how Ultrasound technology can help in a cost-effective way in the management of this disease?
True, fatty liver is becoming endemic in India. It is far more prevalent than we think it is and there are a lot of factors that add to the problem like Diabetes, Dyslipidemia, etc. As we know India is deemed the world’s capital of Diabetes, and all of these factors are adding to the fatty liver burden. And as time passes, we'll see that these fatty livers progress into fibrosis and cirrhosis. We will be seeing far more cases of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. And this is where we need to do a major amount of work because if we have this huge liver disease burden in our country, it's going to be a difficult task for the entire healthcare system to manage it and would increase liver transplants as well. Here, Ultrasound does play a pivotal role because the majority of the time when we do an advanced Ultrasound Scan, we are the first ones to detect or say that, yes this person has fatty liver disease. This happens very often and many patients who come for health checkups are non-suspecting candidates but one may end up seeing these fatty livers. This is observed even in thin patients and also in children. So the prevalence is high, and we can detect it on Ultrasound at an early stage. Now we are going into the functional aspects of imaging. We are trying to ascertain if fibrosis is setting to the liver. We are trying to ascertain if cirrhosis is setting in. Now on Ultrasound, we can detect some of these things even before they start reflecting in the blood test. And as these systems become more widely available in the country, we should see faster detection of these abnormalities. And, earlier detection is absolutely critical because, prevention like we say, is always better than cure. We want to detect it at an early stage and don't want it to progress. And it is reversible, mind you, so fatty livers can be reversed. And I am an example of that. So I have reversed my fatty liver and I think anyone can. You will soon be able to even grade the fatty livers in a more functional aspect using liver attenuation. So yes, technology is building up. It will be far more easily accessible and therefore it should help a large amount of our population.
“Fatty liver is becoming endemic in India. It is far more prevalent than we think it is and there are a lot of factors that add to the problem like Diabetes, Dyslipidemia, etc. As we know India is deemed the world’s capital of Diabetes.”
Advancement in Ultrasound equipment incorporated with AI-based features. What support do you seek in the clinical diagnosis for all the clinicians from MedTech companies into Ultrasound like Mindray?
We can stress more especially using contrast agents, which at this point are not very widely popular, mainly because of the cost factor. We are working with teams to get the cost factors down and develop new agents. And if these agents are locally produced then the cost factor will come down and availability along with application would be easier too. It will be significant in Oncology imaging.
“We have launched a nationwide campaign on detecting fatty liver diseases and Mindray Medical India Pvt. Ltd. is an integral part of this campaign. They are supporting this endeavor by the IRIA.”
How do you see Mindray as a partner for a healthier Bharat about it?
We have launched a nationwide campaign on detecting fatty liver diseases and Mindray Medical India Pvt. Ltd. is an integral part of this campaign. They are supporting this endeavor by the IRIA. We are on a quest to collect this large nationwide data. Mindray has also been extremely supportive in training our Radiologists. I would like to thank Mindray on behalf of IRIA. We will definitely plan more training programs, not only concerning fatty liver but other topics as well. We hope Mindray continues to support and help us to grow stronger by deepening our technological capabilities.
