The Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is developing a medical radio nuclear facility to treat cancer patients.
“Another big program that we are already starting is the development of medical radio nuclear facility through the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute,” Department of Science and Technology (DOST) Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. said during the 2024 Post State of the Nation Address (SONA) Discussions last Tuesday.
According to Solidum, the goal is to produce the “radio nuclearites” for cancer treatment.
“And together with the private sector and the Department of Health (DOH), we hope to establish diagnostic centers for early detection of cancer so that we can treat patients right away,” Solidum said.
“One of the problems with the cancer patient is the early detection and so with this effort, we can not only produce the radio nuclearites but also the test facility and use the radio nuclearites for treating our patients,” he added.
The DOST is also the research arm of the Department of Health (DOH) that leads in the discovery of drugs.
On the other hand, the PNRI is one of the research institutes under the DOST.
“We also look for drugs in marine sediments. We have a big program on biomedical devices – one of which is a response to the non-availability of our medical doctors in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas,” Solidum said.
Earlier, the DOST rolled out what is called the “RxBox” used in telemedicine.
Developed by Filipino researchers from University of the Philippines – Diliman and UP-Manila with support from DOST-Philippine Council for Health Research and Development (PCHRD), the RxBox is a biomedical device capable of measuring a patient’s vital signs, such as temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen saturation, uterine contractions, and electrocardiogram readings. It is widely used in telemedicine.
“Together with the University of the Philippines both in Manila and Diliman which created the RxBox which has six sensors that would include blood pressure, temperature, oxygen, ECG and fetal and monitor of the pregnant woman, we can actually test the patient and have the data sent via internet and the data can be evaluated by a specialist in our regional or specialty offices or clinics of DOH,” Solidum said.
“That would actually expand our health service through tele-health and this was in particular proven during the COVID-19 pandemic wherein we placed this in the different wards of PGH,” he added.| – PND
