Modern imaging methods in Radio-diagnosis can open a window in the human body, as it were, and supplement the clinical expertise in diagnosing the presence and extent of cancer and other diseases. The department of Radio-diagnosis has a vital role to play in a tertiary referral centre for cancer such as the Tata Memorial Hospital, as it caters to the needs of several departments including the surgical, emdical and radiation oncology departments.

Accurate staging of a tumour is made possible by various imaging studies which enable the radiologist to determine the precise size and extend of a tumour, possible invasion of adjacent organs or blood vessels, whether it has spread to regional lymph nodes and whether metastases to distant sites has occurred. This information enables planning the therapy for the patient, keeping in mind the stage of the disease.

The large variety and depth of information that can be provided by radiological investigations is shown by the large number of imaging modalities in the armamentarium of a modern Radio-diagnosis Department, all of which are complementary to each other. However, for high quality imaging and accurate diagnosis nothing can substitute the intelligent usage of equipment manned by skilled personnel. At the Tata Memorial Hospital, the Department of Radio-diagnosis has, since its inception, received timely upgrades of its equipment which was essential to possess capability at the cutting edge of technology. The latest upgrade, completed in February 2000, features the induction of several new state-of-the-art imaging modalities such as, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Colour Doppler, digital Imaging and Digital Subtraction Angiography and Digital Spot Mammography with stereotactic breast biopsy which will enable the department to step into the new millennium as a modern, fully equipped imaging department.