Indigenous Cancer Care Equipments for Societal Benefits

Cancer is a major health problem in India. Established methods of cancer treatment are radiotherapy, surgery and chemotherapy. Although, more than two-third of cancer patients need radiation therapy, only about one-third of them receive the therapy, due to the shortage of therapy units and urban-centric distribution of radiotherapy centres. This alarming shortage is due to the lack of affordable telecobalt machines. Bhabhatron was developed to meet the growing demand for affordable high-performance telecobalt machine.

For the safe and effective radiation therapy, it is necessary to plan and deliver the radiation beam accurately. Radiotherapy Simulator helps in identifying the organs at risk and in localizing the cancer-affected tissues. Simulator would also help in choosing the right radiation beam and aiming it at the target. Although, radiotherapy simulator is an essential tool for improving the quality of teletherapy, there is acute shortage of such machines in our country due to the high cost of the imported units and the lack of indigenous technology. Considering the growing incidence of cancer and the need for such devices, BARC has successfully developed the technology for Radiotherapy Simulator.

The presentation shall highlight salient features of the indigenous telecobalt machine ‘Bhabhatron’ and radiotherapy simulator.

About Shri. Manjit Singh:

Shri Manjit Singh is Distinguished Scientist (DS), and is Director of the Design, Manufacturing & Automation Group (DMAG) and Engineering Services Group (ESG) of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. He did his graduation in Electrical Engineering with Honours from Punjabi University in May 1972. The same year he joined BARC Training School. He is a recipient of Dr. Homi Bhabha Award for securing Ist rank in BARC Training School. Subsequently he also went on to receive the BARC Technical Excellence Award in 1997. He also received Higher Education Society’s Outstanding Teachers Award and Indian Nuclear Society’s Outstanding Service Award in 2011. Shri Manjit Singh pioneered the development of control mechanisms for use in nuclear research and power reactors in India. He also developed remotised tools for in-service inspection of coolant channels of Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors in India.

Shri Manjit Singh led the development of a number of items like Master-Slave Manipulators for handling radioactive materials in hot cells, Instruments based on X-ray diffraction and Automation Systems for diverse applications. He also led the development of a special Robot for Ordnance Disposal. The Robot has successfully removed and destroyed explosive boxes at Ordnance Factory, Khamaria, Jabalpur.

Shri Manjit Singh took extraordinary initiative to develop the first indigenous Teletherapy machine ‘Bhabhatron’ and Radiotherapy Simulator ‘Imagin’ for societal benefit. Several such units are in operation in India and also supplied abroad under the Programme of Action for Cancer Therapy (PACT) of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Shri Manjit Singh has more than 50 publications of national and international levels to his credit. He is a Fellow of National Academy of Engineers. He chairs several National Level Project Review Committees. He is President, Robotics Society of India.