Life Cycle donates ultrasound machine

The Life Cycle Organisation yesterday donated a Lm15,000 ultrasound machine to St Luke's Hospital.

One of the main aims of Life Cycle is to raise funds for the Renal Unit and to help provide a better quality of life for renal patients. It does this by organising cycling "challenges" in Europe and is now preparing for its seventh - a 1,850 kilometres trip from Budapest to Athens by 37 cyclists and a back-up team.

Yesterday the organisation presented the Aloka Utrasound Machine, which converts high frequency sound waves into images of body organs and structures, to the Radiology Department.

About 14,000 ultrasound examinations are performed at St Luke's Hospital annually, 20 per cent of them on the kidneys.

Diagnosis of chronic renal failure involves a lot of investigation including ultrasonic technology, which is considered safe and painless for the patient.

It is less invasive and is utilised both for routine and specialised examinations. It may even be used to examine certain parts of the body's circulatory system, sometimes replacing the angiogram and or the vengram, avoiding the use of dye injection into the arteries or veins.

Life Cycle will also be donating a portable ultrasound machine in the near future. This would be used where necessary but mainly in the Renal Unit and operating theatre.

So far Life Cycle has donated 12 kidney machines, 29 automated peritoneal dialysis machines, an air-conditioning system for the unit and a dialysis couch. It has also financed the refurbishment and extension of the unit and donated money towards the procurement of a haemodialysis reverse osmosis plant.

Life Cycle also aims to increase organ donation awareness and all members are committed to register a number of persons per year as organ donors.

Health Minister Louis Deguara thanked Life Cycle which, he said, had been instrumental in leading the government to propose legislation for the regulation of non-governmental organisations.

NGOs will greatly benefit from this legislation, including through the refund of value added tax on their donations to the government, he added.