Crafting for Care

We are very pleased to support St. Vincent’s University Hospital Craft Group, a group of hospital staff that get together in their own time to produce blankets and keepsakes for patients in ICU and those at End-of-Life. Their beautiful creations help to bring a little comfort and homeliness at these difficult times and are appreciated by patients and families alike.

Every blanket is unique and is hand-knitted or crocheted, showing real talent from the group members. Hearts are created in-house too, or are donated by others who wish them to be passed on to families and children saying a final farewell to a loved one.

This is a touching example of how your funds make a difference for patients and families within our hospitals. Thank you so much for making this possible.

State-of-the-art Medical (Dosimetry) Software for our Medical Physicist Team

Thanks to you, our donors, St. Vincent’s Foundation has played a major role in the introduction of new dosimetry software within St. Vincent’s University Hospital’s Molecular Imaging and Theranostics Centre in Radiology. This upgrade for our professional team means they can now determine complex doses to organs and tumours for personalised cancer treatments faster and with greater accuracy than ever before. The software is the first of its kind in use in Ireland for Radioligand treatments (Radioligand Therapy is used instead of chemotherapy for advanced cancers). The team carrying out these treatments to slow or stop tumour growth, can now monitor radiation doses delivered during these types of treatments to minimise damage to healthy organs.
Up until now, dose calculations have been extremely labour-intensive and slow. Having new, faster software will change how the team work for patients, particularly those who have undergone other radiation treatments. They, and we, are extremely grateful to our donors who have made this massive improvement possible.
Dr Mathilde Colombié, Consultant Nuclear Medicine Physician said:
“We are very grateful for this donation from St Vincent’s Foundation. Having the advanced dosimetry software will make a huge difference to how we perform our jobs. This sophisticated dosimetry software will enable us to measure radiation doses that patients receive much more efficiently and with a higher accuracy. The advanced functions it provides will also permit further improvement of the service”.

Pictured above are: Dr Mathilde Colombié, Consultant Nuclear Medicine Physician, Dr Nicola Hughes, Consultant Radiologist, Head of the Molecular Imaging and Theranostics Centre,  Dr Niamh McArdle, Senior Physicist, Jackie McCavana, Principal Physicist, Anna Wojcieszyn, VP Sales & Business Manager UK & ROI Hermes Medical Solutions, Dr AnnMcCann, Senior Physicist

Supporting Cancer Surgery at St. Michael’s Hospital

Together with your support, we have provided a new neoprobe for the surgical team at St. Michael’s Hospital to assist them in finding the location of targeted tissue during cancer surgery and provide advanced data and real-time information.