India’s First Indigenously Built MRI Scanner To Be Installed At AIIMS-Delhi For Clinical Trials By Oct

India has developed its first indigenous Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine to be installed at AIIMS-Delhi by October this year for clinical trials.

The machine is expected to cut MRI costs for patients by around 50 per cent.

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All about India's first indigenous MRI machine

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the installation of the 1.5 Tesla MRI scanner has been signed between AIIMS and the Society for Applied Microwave Electronics Engineering and Research (SAMEER), an autonomous research and development organisation, functioning under the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in Mumbai.

AIIMS-Delhi Director Dr M Srinivas said the majority of the equipment in critical and post-operative care, ICUs, robotics, and MRIs in India was imported.

"The development of this indigenous MRI machine is a major step towards becoming Atmanirbhar Bharat to reduce dependence on foreign imported devices," he said.

During the field trials, the premier hospital will provide feedback to Sameer so that the MRI can be augmented to meet the global standards.

“Having used some of the best global equipment in the world, we also feel that we have become self-reliant. We can give feedback to the innovator and compare with the global diagnostic products so that better versions can be created.

This will help the innovator make the necessary improvements and ensure the technology meets global standards,” Dr M Srinivas, AIIMS director, said.

“No MRI machine has been built in the country. AIIMS will conduct clinical trials. Based on the feedback, we will have a next version that will be deployed for commercial use. We have onboarded seven industries for the project. In the future, we will come up with advanced MRI, wherein linear accelerator (LINAC) and MRI will be combined for diagnostics. This will take seven years,” Dr P. Hanumantha Rao, Director General, Sameer said.

Rao disclosed that Sameer will also build an open test bed for MRI.

“If one creates an algorithm that could be tested at Sameer. Nobody needs to create an entire MRI for trials. Any part of the MRI could be tested at the test bed,” he said.

Currently, India imports 85 per cent of medical equipment, including MRI and CT scan machines, from Germany, China and Malaysia.

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