Read the following passage carefully and answer the following questions: When…

Read the following passage carefully and answer the following questions:

When a young student from Chandigarh was told that he had developed a tumor in a critical area of the brain and worse, that it was too dangerous to perform surgery in the area, paralysis and eventual death seemed to be his fate. Until doctors at Apollo Hospital, Hyderabad,.told him about a revolutionary treatment, radiosurgery which eradicates deep-seated lesions in the most critical areas of the brain without opening the skull. He is now in Sweden awaiting treatment and a return to a completely normal life.

A Swedish doctor, Lars Leksell, developed radio surgery, or the destruction of diseased brain tissue through the delivery of a concentrated dose of radiation to pinpointed area in the brain. Since brain tissue, unlike tissue elsewhere in the body, does into regenerate itself, mistakes in neurosurgery can be crippling and permanent. Leksell first conceived the idea of radio surgery and after two decades of research to identify the ideal radiation source and equipment, developed the Gamma knife in 1968. While the procedure takes on the three hours, actual treatment time in the Gamma knife unit is 10 to 20 minutes. The patient's head is positioned in a helmet which places the radiation target at the exact point of intersection of 201 cobalt 60 beams. At this point of convergence, enough radiation is delivered to destroy diseased tissue without affecting the adjacent normal tissue. Radiation is precisely delivered to the affected tissue and the dose absorbed by surrounding cerebral tissue is minimal. In 1968, the first Gamma knife was installed at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm. A second Gamma knife was installed at the institute in 1974. The Gamma knife however, came into its own following the development of sophisticated imaging techniques. "Today there are around 15 units in use of leading institutions all over the world, while 15 are now being installed," says Percy Shroff, manager of the India operations of Elekta Instrument AB, Sweden that manufactures medical equipment in the field of neuroscience.

"No such systems have been installed in India which has led quite a few patients to seek the treatment overseas. Taking India's patient population, the number of cases for which the treatment is suitable would be around 100 per million," reckons Shroff.At Rs. 12 crore, the Gamma Knife is a hefty investment but one that is cost-saving in the long-run. Treatment costs are reduced by 30 percent to 70 percent as compared to conventional surgery. Furthermore, the hidden costs of prolonged convalescence after open surgery of the brain are eliminated since the patient leaves hospital the same day or a day after treatment. The producer is virtually painless as there is no incision nor any need for general anesthesia. "Not only is the patient spared the pain, he is also spared the problems associated with traditional invasive surgery such as bleeding, infection, formation of scar tissue and lengthy hospitalization and convalescence" says Dr. Keki E. Turel, consultant neurosurgeon and professor of neurosurgery, Mumbai Hospital Institute of Medical Sciences. Given the cost benefits, the Gamma knife is a suitable option for Government hospitals. In China, it has been installed in four large public hospitals where treatment is provided at a cost of $3000 to $5000 compared to $20,000 to $25,000 in the US 10,000-15,000 in Japan and Europe.

Neurosurgeons in India expect to make the treatment available at the same cost as in China. The continuing refinement of imaging techniques has correspondingly increased the potential applications of the Gamma knife, with further development. It can be used to ameliorate the symptoms of Parkinson's diseases, and provided relief to patients suffering from intractable pain neuralgia, psyche-neurosis and epilepsy. Already of the 21,428 cases treated worldwide around 2 percent account for such therapy. Tumors account for 62 percent of treatments which malformations of blood vessels account for 36 percent. With ongoing research, the applications of the Gamma knife should spread to the other specialties also. Research related to inner ear and retinal cancers is currently underway.

Consultant Neurosurgeon, Mumbai hospital Institute of Medical Science, is ___ (as mentioned in the passage)