Thiruvananthapuram: The Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) has inaugurated a centre of excellence (CoE) dedicated to advancing minimally invasive cardiovascular devices. The CoE will focus on the development of devices such as transcatheter aortic valves, abdominal aortic stent grafts, clot retrievers for stroke treatment, patent ductus arteriosus occluders, peripheral stents, etc., which will be made ready for early technology transfer.
Minimally invasive therapy can be offered to patients with very high surgical risk and thus giving them a fresh lease of life. It has less morbidity, lower risk of infection, and allows quicker discharge from the hospital. The long-term outcomes of these devices are similar or better when compared to open-heart surgery. Other advantages include less requirement of infrastructure and quick patient turnover time.
Currently, the limiting factor for percutaneous therapy is the high cost. Most of these devices are imported into the country, except for some select interventional devices. The durability of these devices is improving with continued research and development and is comparable to or better than currently available surgical techniques.
This CoE is funded by the Union department of biotechnology and is housed within the department of medical devices engineering, as part of the division of artificial internal organs at the biomedical technology wing of SCTIMST. It is establishing facilities for the design, prototyping, and testing of these devices.
The establishment of specialised centres like this CoE will support the growth of India’s medical technology ecosystem and help achieve the ambitious objectives set under the ‘Make in India‘ and ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat‘ initiatives. The Centre’s funding will enable stronger collaborations with medical device industry partners, leading to the transfer and commercialisation of research outcomes, said a statement issued by the institute.
