Kerala: Sree Chitra Thirunal Institute launches 25 research projects

Kerala: 25 research projects in the field of biomedical devices, bio materials, and technologies will be launched at SCTIMST (The Sree Chitra Thirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology) . There will be a dedicated research team for the purpose

This development is in view of the institute’s mandates to highlight itself as a Technology Research Centre (TRC). The institute is one of the five prestigious institutes shortlisted by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) in the country. The objective is clear; fasttrack work on development of indigenous medical devices and technology.

India currently imports medical implants worth Rs 15,000 crore and medical instrumentation worth Rs.12,000 crore. DST is thus being provided a grant of Rs 100 crore by the Biomedical Technology (BMT)) wing to boost research and setting up core teams for the purpose.

SCTIMST had earlier reported a ground breaking technology discovery in the form of the nation’s first indigenous cardiac prosthetic valve – the Chitra Heart Valve in 1995. Since then, it has been implanted on over one lakh patients in 400 centres across the country and abroad.

“We had in November last, set up a national-level research council to review our new and on-going research projects. Till now, we had individual scientists pursuing their own research. But now we are consolidating all our research potential and going ahead with 25 selected projects, with dedicated teams on each so that at the end of five years, we will have technologies ready to be transferred to our industry partners. The areas we have chosen include cardiovascular devices, neuro prosthetic devices, heart tissue, in-vitro diagnostic devices and biological and combination products,” the Director of SCTIMST, Asha Kishore, told The Hindu .