A doctor by profession, a stint in the Air Force by choice and an invention which the entire country should be proud of — a distinguished career for any individual. He recently set up Science Beyond Frontiers (formerly Cartigen), to help osteoarthritic patients get on the road to recovery with a non-invasive method of treatment that uses Rotational Field Quantum Magnetic Resonance (RFQMR).
He received the Suvarna Rajyotsava award from the State Government last year, for his services in the field of medicine. He was assisted by Vijay Kumar, an engineer at CARD, who developed the first prototype of the Cytotron that uses RFQMR. In the last three years, he has treated over 800 patients successfully. Metrolife caught up with Wg Cdr (Dr) V G G Vasishta for a chat...
My team and I took up trials using the Cytotron developed by Vijay, on arthritis and cancer patients...
The Pilot trials went off well and we published the results in the Scientific Journal. After that we took up cancer trials and followed it up with the second phase of trials for arthritis, which gave us definite results.
The treatment has now gained a lot of acceptance...
We even have doctors coming to us for treatment. The cost is set at one-fourth the cost of knee replacement surgeries (which includes hospitalisation and physiotherapy, etc).
RFMQR aids the natural process of regeneration of cartilage and doesn’t involve hospitalisation costs.
The biggest problem though, is that we don’t have process patents in India...
Here we only have product patents. So while the Cytotrons can be purchased from us, the process of treatment (how much frequency is to be administered, the duration of treatment, etc, which is case specific), is known only to me. So people should beware of claims of similar treatment elsewhere.
The treatment is a breakthrough in world medicine...
I wanted to reach out to the masses with it. So I left the armed forces in September 2006 and started SBF, which was formerly called Cartigen.
We’re still at the tip of the iceberg...
As far as treatment goes. There’s more to be done. My dream is to set up SBF in every city in India. We will set up six more centres this year — in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad, etc — and next year we plan to set up 12 more centres of Science Beyond Frontiers (SBF) in key cities. We want as many people as possible to benefit from this method of treatment.
Our satisfaction comes from seeing patients recover...
And the fact that I am able to provide pain relief to patients.
Ninety per cent of patients respond favourably, though the rate of recovery varies as it depends on the extent of damage they have suffered. The utility of this treatment is great in sports too.
I was with the Air Force for more than 20 years...
I joined because of an ambition to do something for the country.
I was an MD in radiology and had two years experience in intervention. I’ve been mostly teaching in hospitals.
I taught at Command Hospital for six years and at the Institute of Aerospace Medicine for seven years, as professor and head of radiology.
Life in the Air Force was good...
We were allowed to fly too as we had to know what pilots experience. I’ve flown fighters, helicopters and transport carriers out of my own interest. The Jaguar has been the most exhilarating experience.
My wife Supriya has been a pillar of support...
She gave up her teaching job and has joined the board of directors at SBF. We have two children and I see them less now because of my travel. But they seem to have taken it well.
My role models are...
Dr Goldberg, the father of radiology and director of the Jefferson Institute, USA, who is a huge inspiration. And much beyond him is my father Dr A Gopalakrishnan, scientist and Prof Emeritus, IISc, and one of the top three people in the world on cell biology. He’s a legend and what he’s accomplished is unbelievable.
(Dr Vasishta can be contacted at info@cartigen.org or ph: 64507882)