THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Sree Chitra Thirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) has set an ambitious target to develop about 30 medical devices by 2030 that would revolutionise the country’s medical equipment market. The value of the technology to be developed during the period is estimated at Rs 26,000 crore.
Institute director Asha Kishore said here on Saturday they have started research and development works of 27 devices. “The ideas were selected after analysing the country’s future health burdens like lifestyle diseases and ageing-related ailments,” she said.The governing body of the institute had recently approved a perspective plan titled ‘Vision 2030, the biomedical technology perspective plan’. It details the vision and deliverables of the institute in the area of biomedical technology development during 2021-30.
Vision 2030 for the BMT wing of the institute is planned at a total cost of Rs 350 crore. The project is aimed at developing 30 equipment which can make a drastic change in the medical equipment sector. It is envisaged that about 50-60 products will be ready for technology transfer during this period.
The Union Department of Science and Technology has in principle agreed to sanction Rs 50 crore as the first instalment for setting up a combinational block in the BMT wing of the institute. The institute’s governing body has approved the appointment of 23 personnel including scientists and engineers for the project.
According to Asha Kishore, SCTIMST’s technologies will help in the production of quality treatment equipment at a very low cost. This will have an impact on the health sector with a huge reduction in the price of equipment and treatment charges.
“Activities for developing 33 treatment equipment are in progress. The research for the 25 equipment will continue in the next decade also. There are also plans to start development of another 30 equipment in the next seven years,” she said.