Smallest echocardiography machine to be launched
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, FEB 4 
Launching of the first smallest hand-held echocardiography machine in the world will be the main highlight of the 15th international conference on echocardiography and clinical cardiology (February 11 to 14) being held in Goa for the very first time.        
The conference is expected to bring to the State some of the top international names in the field of echocardiography. The top among these are US-based Dr Navin C Nanda (University of Alabama), who is internationally known as the father of echocardiography.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Dr Digambar Naik, Organising Secretary of the event, said, “The echocardiography machine, manufactured by Philips and costing about Rs 6 to 8 lakh, to be launched here is the size of a cell-phone. The present one is double the size.”
Dr Naik said for those new to echocardiography it can be best summed as ultrasound of the heart. Today echocardiography supplements the ECG (electrocardiogram) results thus giving the exact analysis of a patient’s heart, he mentioned.
The doctor, who runs the Vrundavan Hospital, said echocardiography machine is a must have tool for every physician to tell his/her patients the status of the heart before and after angiography, angioplasty or heart surgery.      
Dr Naik maintained echocardiography was so advanced in today’s world that it guides a surgeon during and after surgery to perfection. Every doctor who treats heart patients must have the basic knowledge of echocardiography, he asserted.
He observed, “In this conference we aim at training and teaching every physician in the country to use echocardiography machine and advice their patients on the next course of action.”
Dr Francisco Colaco, Chairman of Organising Committee, said, “The hand-held echo machine is financially very viable and is one of the cheapest modes to detect heart problems. An ECG costs between Rs 1,000 to 3,000 depending on the heart condition. Both echocardiography and electrocardiogram supplement each other to know the exact status of a person’s heart.”   
Colaco, the first echocardiographer in the State, said the advantage is doctors can carry this machine in the hand with ease during their clinical rounds. “The field of echocardiography is progressing by leaps and bounds and this conference will be a boon to Goan doctors to learn whatever possible from top experts in the world,” he stated.  
On February 11, a Continuing Medical Education programme will be held where interesting case studies are scheduled to be presented. The CME is the pre-conference event and on February 12 the actual conference will take off and end on February 14.