AIIMS Delhi and Osaka University Join Hands to Develop Medical Devices in India

The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi has partnered with Osaka University in Japan to establish a center in Jhajjar, Haryana, where medical equipment will be developed, with the central government's "Make in India" policy at its core.

According to officials, Indian surgeons, doctors, and biomedical engineers would be able to use the National Centre for Medical Device Development, Validation and Skill Training as a platform to conceptualize, design, build, and test medical device prototypes. It will accelerate the development of designs and technologies in accordance with medical professionals' specifications, as well as testing on cadavers and animals.

Despite the implementation of the "Made in India" policy, over 70% of the gadgets and equipment are imported from industrialized nations, according to Dr. Hemanga K. Bhattacharjee, Professor of Surgical Disciplines at AIIMS. This makes the initiative noteworthy.

For the past two years, Osaka University and AIIMS have collaborated on the initiative. A number of AIIMS academic members traveled to Osaka University in Japan for training throughout the past two years. The Union Health Ministry has now been asked for a budget of Rs 300 crore by the AIIMS administration. "The government has approved the budget in principle and the land has been finalized," Dr. Bhattacharjee stated.

A group of physicians headed by Dr. Bhattacharjee, along with experts from various departments, scientists, and technical officers from AIIMS, met with the Japanese delegation on Monday to discuss cutting edge technological research and gain practical knowledge of computer-aided design, rapid prototype production through 3D printing, and prototype conceptualization. "The Japanese group is now in our midst, discussing and imparting knowledge on how the center will be set up. This program will involve every faculty member at AIIMS, according to Dr. Bhattacharjee.

On Monday, the Japanese delegation, headed by Dr. Kiyokazu Nakajima, a professor at Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine's Department of Next Generation Endoscopic Intervention, held discussions on the technical details and ideas for developing a cutting-edge, publicly-funded research center for the development, validation, and skill-building of medical devices. The suggested location of the center in the Jhajjar campus of AIIMS Delhi was also visited by the Japanese physicians.

Dr. Bhattacharjee emphasized, "We are moving forward and will move towards the infrastructure and development of medical devices under the Made in India scheme. We have had an MoU (memorandum of understanding) with the Osaka University for research for ten years.”

He went on, "We need to build an environment where physicians, engineers, and surgeons can determine what they need and what unmet clinical needs they have, and this platform will enable them to collaborate and invent technologies. For the same, we seek to build a single-window solution. This will foster the creation of an ecosystem for research and development in addition to aiding in the development of solutions for diverse technologies.