The State University of Campinas (Unicamp) received, last Tuesday (27), the visit of the Minister of Health, Alexandre Padilha, in an agenda dedicated to discovering facilities and discussing strategic partnerships in the areas of oncology, nuclear medicine and women’s health. The delegation went through the Hospital de Clínicas (HC) and the Center for Comprehensive Health Care for Women (CAISM), getting to know technological innovations that are already integrated with the routine of the Unified Health System (SUS).
Technological advancement in nuclear medicine
One of the central points of the visit was the new area of nuclear medicine at HC/Unicamp, where the minister learned about the first spect/CT-CZT tomography equipment installed in a public hospital in Latin America, which has artificial intelligence resources to obtain full-body images, 3D, with high quality and precision for diagnostic research. The technology is based on cadmium-zinc-telurium detectors (CZT) and represents a leap in relation to conventional equipment, reducing the exam time up to 4 times.
Presented by Dr. Bárbara Juarez Amorim, nuclear doctor, coordinator of the Nuclear Medicine Service of HC/UNICAMP, associate researcher and manager for the dissemination of knowledge in CancerThera, the equipment directly impacts the assistance. As Amorim explains, “in practice, the agility provided by the equipment increases access and optimizes the assistance flow, allowing the performance of a significantly greater number of daily exams and directly contributing to the goal of speeding up the journey of the oncological patient in the public network”.
Minister Padilha also got to know the new radiopharmacy, which houses equipment of around R$ 2.7 million financed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) through a project coordinated by Dr. Elba Etchebehere, a nuclear doctor, researcher at the CEPID CancerThera and professor at the Faculty of Medical Sciences at Unicamp (FCM/Unicamp). Structured as a national training center, the unit has trained professionals in the marking and use of radiopharmaceuticals for diagnostic tests in nuclear medicine, consolidating a research partnership maintained with the IAEA since 2023.
Institutional dialogue and perspectives on campus
Continuing the agenda at the Barão Geraldo campus, the delegation went to meetings with managers and teams from the Unicamp health area, focusing on expanding partnerships and strengthening initiatives aimed at assistance and technological innovation in the public network.
Text: Xenya Bucchioni
