71st Conference of IRIA and 17th AOCR held in Mumbai

By EH News Bureau On Feb 8, 2018

The inauguration was graced by Governor of Maharashtra, C Vidhyasagar Rao and members of national and Maharashtra State Chapter of IRIA

Over 200 eminent speakers from India and other Asian countries congregated at Asian Oceanian Congress of Radiology (AOCR) 2018, Asia’s largest radiology and diagnostic imaging congress. The event held in Mumbai saw attendance from radiologists and diagnostic imaging experts from across the globe.

The conference began with an inaugural ceremony of the Indian College of Radiology and Imaging (ICRI). Dr Bhupendra Ahuja, President, Indian Radiological and Imaging Association (IRIA), delivered the opening remarks and congratulated the IRIA and AOCR team for organising such a huge convention of top notch radiologists, technicians, and experts from the field of diagnostic imaging. He highlighted the agenda of the conference and shared his insights on the ever evolving field of radiology in India.

Dr Vara Prasad, Secretary, ICRI, presented the annual report of the ICRI. He spoke about the new voluntary education programmes started by ICRI and IRIA to promote advanced learning in the field of radiology which is made available to most professionals and radiologists in India. The function was followed by an award ceremony where many deserving radiologists and researchers were conferred with awards and fellowships.

The first day of 17th AOCR 2018 also saw eminent speakers including many international experts share global perspectives at the conference. One such session was ‘Liver elastography guidelines and current state’, held by Dr Richard Barr, Radiology Professor, Northeast Ohio Medical University. He discussed the major consequences of liver disease. He informed that the stage of liver fibrosis is important to determine prognosis, surveillance, priorities of the treatment and potential for reversibility. He pointed out that multiple elastography techniques are available and that the literature supports the non-invasive use of these techniques to assess liver stiffness. Further, he went on to say that to obtain accurate liver stiffness measurements, adherence to strict protocol is required.

Dr Barr also educated the audience about the critical points to be kept in mind while interpreting results and thereby acquiring accurate diagnosis. He also highlighted that both, the patient and scanning factors affect these results. Concluding the session, he elaborated on the multiple ways that can help make radiologists improve imaging results.

The inauguration of the 71st Conference of the IRIA and the 17th AOCR was graced by Maharashtra’s Governor, C Vidhyasagar Rao and members of national and Maharashtra State Chapter of IRIA. During the ceremony, Dr Mohanan K, 74th incoming IRIA President, said that the association would always stand by the radiologist members.

He said that IRIA would ensure radiologists are trained to be the best so that there is no encroachment by ‘sono-quacks.’ He also appealed to the Governor of Maharashtra to give some clarity on levying GST on radiology equipment. He also opined that there should be zero GST on such equipment as they are life-saving.

The Governor praised the efforts of radiologists, and calling them lifesavers. He stated that radiologists play an important role in early detection of diseases and thereby in the reduction of the country’s disease burden. He also mentioned the urgent need to harness teleradiology, given the lack of radiologists and doctors. He rightly pointed out that as India is predicted to have a huge geriatric population, more than that of the US, there is an urgent need for effective radiology solutions.

Further, he urged the radiology equipment players to manufacture advanced radiology equipment in India and reduce costs. He asked Dr Mohanan to make a report on this and promised to take it up with PM Narendra Modi, who is very keen on the ‘Make in India’ initiative.

The Governor lastly highlighted the skewed sex ratio in the country and the role of prenatal sex detection in this abysmal situation. He also pointed out that female foeticide too remains rampant, and said that the way forward is to change the mindset of the population.

Moreover, the Maharashtra state chapter of IRIA launched the RAKSHA campaign, a nationwide initiative to save the girl child. The campaign was inaugurated by Amitabh Bachchan who has extended his support to the cause. More than 1000 radiologists present at event also pledged their support to the cause.

The inauguration ceremony began with Dr Sona Pungavkar, explaining the aim and vision of the initiative. ‘Save the girl child’ and ‘Laadli’ are some of the social initiatives to wage a war against female foeticide which aims at protecting, safeguarding, supporting and educating the girl child. Similarly, these radiologists have also joined hands to continue this effort.

Pledging his support to the initiative, Bachchan said, “During my TB and Hepatitis B treatment time, I discovered that there was discrimination amongst women with these conditions. Therefore, this subject is very close to my heart. So, when I was approached to support this initiative I couldn’t say no. We need to support all women who face discrimination because of their illnesses and medical conditions. We have to encourage women for early diagnosis of diseases and ensure a secured future for them. We will fight for women of our nation until they are completely empowered. He also shared his willingness to be the voice for this cause.

Food for Thought

The future of radiology is very bright. Embrace new technology. Artificial intelligence is a friend and not a foe
– Dr Vijay Rao, President, RSNA

We will see a lot more advances in the field of molecular imaging, targeted MRI and Ultrasonic transducer technologies
– Dr Vara Prasad, Chief Consultant Radiologist, Global Super Speciality Hospital

The focus on innovations that will change the face of radiology practice in India
– Dr N Chidambaranathan, HOD & Consultant Radiologist, Apollo Hospitals

Look for the advances in functional MR, molecular diagnostics and BTI. These will further the growth of radiology practice and industry in India
– Dr Deepak Patkar, Director Medical Services and Head- Dept of radiology, Nanavati Hospital

Radiology is an extremely vast field and hence the way for young radiologists is to sub specialise by getting into smaller areas like neuro radiology, paediatric radiology, interventional radiology in a more detailed way
– Milind Gune, Consultant, ICRI

Every young radiologist should take a tremendous amount of pride in being a radiologist which today is the central pole of every single clinical problem. He should conduct himself with confidence, self respect and at the same time with great amount of dedication, completely focussing on the chosen subject
– Dr Shrinivas B Desai, Director, Department of Imaging and Interventional Radiology, Jaslok Hospital

Become clinical radiologists.You should interact with referring physicians and become an irreplaceable part of the team. Try to involve yourself in all imaging modalities, of course, you may want to specialise in one particular field, but also get interested in ultrasound or do interventional radiology
– Harsh Mahajan, Founder, Mahajan Imaging

Takeaways from AOCR 2018

We see that the customers coming to AOCR have a desire to change, even though some of them might not have the means to change as of now. They are looking at all the new technologies such as DR in a more aggressive manner. As for the smaller customers, in terms of the size of examinations that they conduct, they might not be able to afford these products. For them, we have interim solutions and we have displayed them here
– Dilip Bhosale, Country Head -Sales, Agfa Healthcare

IRIA as a gathering has grown tremendously just as the field continues to evolve. This year, the show is even bigger with AOCR happening together, wherein international delegates and experts have joined us. This is not just an exhibition or a conference but a learning platform. People, both radiologists and equipment players, come to increase our knowledge. This year we have also seen some incredible amalgamation of digital technologies wherein people are exploring the potential of AI etc
– Praveen Rajgopal, VP- MFAPS, India cluster, Carestream

We have received a very warm response at AOCR 2018. In fact, after the launch of one of our products at AOCR this year, we will be having our first installation of our equipment in Navi Mumbai coming March. We have also understood that radiologists from tier II cities are now opting for high-end technology solutions just as imaging centres from metros would do. Tier III radiologists are still opting for low-cost solutions
– Ratish Nair, CEO, Sanrad

We see a lot of promise in the Indian healthcare market. AOCR 2018 has been a good platform for us to showcase our innovations. In the coming months, we look forward to introduce many of our innovative products in India, as well as looking for strengthening partnerships with the government. We have received a good response from radiologists present at the AOCR conference
– Chander Shekhar Sibal, Executive VP, Medical Division, Fujifilm

AOCR 2018 has been a great learning experience, especially for post graduate students. On Day 1, there was a very informative film reading session with out-of-the-world cases, which was an eye-opener in many ways. For us, it is also a place to catch up with old friends and share our knowledge
– Dr Varsha Rathi, Professor, Dept of Radiology, Grant Medical College and JJ Group of Hospitals

At AOCR 2018, we have focussed on the youth. We have therefore, had an e-poster facility for the young students who come to seek knowledge at IRIA conference. We have also started of with a green/ e-conference where we will send out research papers, awards etc. on mail. We have a special mobile app for them and have received a superb response to this
– Dr Sanjeev Mani, Organising Secretary, AOCR 2018