Electronics has all along made valuable contribution in the field of medicine. The quality and availability of health care are becoming increasingly dependent on radically new diagnostic, monitoring, and prosthetic instruments provided by electronics some examples being from a simple thermometer, blood pressure measurement instrument, stethoscope to the high-end MRI machine. Medical Electronics is a specialized discipline which integrates engineering with biomedical sciences and clinical practice. The miniaturization of electronics devices and integration technologies is leading to development of new electronic medical devices for measurement of physiological variables for use in diagnostics, therapy and monitoring to improve the well-being of the population. Thus, the impact of electronics on health care is now a widely accepted fact. Health care may indeed present the most promising opportunity to improve the quality of life in our society through electronics. In the coming years, there will be greater demand for medical electronics in the country with the Government programmes like National Rural Health Mission providing technology at grassroots level.
Presently, the penetration of medical devices in India is very low, therefore, under the Medical Electronics and Health Informatics Programme, the government encourages the businesses, R&D institutions and academia to use innovation and new technology to bring down costs of technology and make it more accessible.
Ministry has sponsored many R&D projects in the area of Medical Electronics & Health Informatics. A few of these technologies have already been transferred to potential manufacturers for commercial production. These include 6MeV Linear Accelerator (LINAC), Closed Loop Anesthesia Delivery System (CLADS) & Microwave Disinfection System for Hospital Waste. Under the aegis of MeitY, 6 MeV Medical LINAC machines used for radiation therapy in cancer patients has been installed at Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Wardha(Maharashtra); Cancer Institute, Adyar, Chennai (Tamil Nadu) & Institute Head & Neck Oncology, Indore (Madhya Pradesh); Amrawati Cancer Hospital, Amrawati (Maharashtra).
MeitY had also sponsored development of Telemedicine technology to provide quality healthcare to patients in rural/ remote locations through specialists. Under Telemedicine pilot projects implementation during the last decade, Telemedicine centers were set up in various States. A number of doctors and paramedics were trained by using this Technology. A National resource center for Telemedicine has also been set up at Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow.
Identified thrust areas of Medical Electronics & Health Informatics
- Medical and Imaging equipment, including
- Electronic Health Record & Online courseware in health
- Decision support
- Infrastructure for training, maintenance of medical electronics
- Establishing Centre of excellence in medical electronics R&D.
- Futuristic R&D project using new/next generation technologies, including neuro
- Development of assistive technologies and independent living
Ms. Sunita Verma
Group Coordinator (R&D in Electronics & Information Technology)
Group Coordinator-R&D in Electronics & Information Technology
Ph: 011-24364810
Fax: 011-24366557
Email: sunita[at]meity[dot]gov[dot]in
