Surgeon Dr Jonathon Rice was handed a new $28,600 gamma probe, along with an $8500 headlight, from the Moruya District Hospital Auxiliary recently, and welcomed the addition to the hospital’s equipment.

“I’ve been waiting for it,” Dr Rice said.

“It’ll mean less travel. In the past, most people have had to go to Canberra or Sydney to have this done.”

The gamma probe is a surgical tool used with breast cancer and melanoma patients to help identify the gland where a cancer is likely to spread to first.

“It helps you identify the gland without actually seeing it,” Dr Rice said.

In breast cancer patients, this gland is located under the arm. Once found, and removed, a biopsy is completed, then the results determine whether the patient needs to undergo further surgery.

Dr Rice said he used to inject a blue dye to help identify where the cancerous gland was located.

“There was no way of telling whether they had cancer or not,” he said. “This was subjecting two thirds of women to surgery they didn’t even need.”

Now, with the gamma probe, finding the right, potentially cancerous gland is 95 per cent effective, compared to just using the dye, which was 60 per cent.

While it is effective in breast cancer patients, Dr Rice said it had been used to identify melanomas also. However, he said it wasn’t as effective in that cancer because it gets into the blood stream.

Now that Moruya Hospital has the gamma probe, Dr Rice said he hopes patients won’t have to travel as far for these operations.

“What we offer now is the same as what you’d get in a city,” he said.

Dr Rice was also excited about his new headlight, which he is using for “everything.”

Moruya District Hospital Auxiliary treasurer Chris Smith said her group was able to raise the money for the tools through fundraising.

“All the funds were donated by the community,” Ms Smith said.