This sterilisation machine with plasma technology and two heart lung machines that has been acquired by the Cardio Vascular Thoracic Surgery (CVTS) department at Sassoon General Hospital can convert irregular heart beats into regular ones during surgery and is the only one in Asia.

The department will reopen on Friday after five months. Dr Avinash Inamdar, head of CVTS department said earlier only 20-25 surgeries could be performed every month. However, after the renovation and two sophisticated operation theatres with high end machines in the department, Inamdar says that doctors will be able to perform around 50 cardiac operations every month.

The pre-operative and post-operative wards have also been renovated at the Infosys Building on the campus and a separate entrance has been made to prevent patients from contracting H1N1 virus infection. The ground floor of the same building houses swine flu ICU. Inamdar agreed that there was panic among cardiac patients who were wary of getting admitted in the same building. However, with swine flu cases on the wane and a separate entrance to the ICU, cardiac patients are now willing to be admitted. At present, 30 patients have been admitted to the pre-operative cardiac ward.

The unique feature of the renovated CVTS department is the cardiac ablation device - which is the first in Asia according to Inamdar. This is a high-intensity focused ultrasound machine that can be used during bypass cardiac surgery to convert irregular heart beats to regular ones. “We hope we can attract foreign doctors to attend workshops for training students,” said Inamdar.

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