Do you have a passion for medical science and software development? If yes, a course in medical software could be your choice.
Master of Science in Medical Software, offered at Manipal Centre for Information Science, Manipal, caters to developing software that operates medical equipments. It focuses on developing software to assist radiological equipment to work efficiently. X-rays, MRI scanner magnetic resonance imaging), ultrasound, photo acoustic imaging, CT scanner (Computed Tomography), Breast Thermography (Digital infrared imaging thermography) are some of the radiological equipments which are part of the study in Medical Software program.
These radiological instruments use medical imaging technology. The medical practitioner or radiologist acquires and interprets such images. Healthcare industry is looking for students with special skill sets in this field.
The students of this discipline are equipped to understand the hardware of radiological equipment, its working and then develop solutions required.
Prof.Harishchandra Hebbar, Director of Manipal Centre for Information sciences said, Manipal University is running this program since 1998. The program was jointly designed by Manipal University & GE (General Electric) Medical Systems, Bangalore. GE has so far selected 17 students from this pool for GE Fund scholarships. It is claimed to be the only one of its kinds in India. Prof. Hebbar said Medical software as a field, has always remained unaffected even during recession.
Nandish. S, Assistant Professor in the institute said, the course has collaboration with various health care industries like Philips, Cerner healthcare, Siemens in addition to GE. Companies like GE, Philips, Simon, L&T, Cerner & other healthcare firms also look for those trained medical software, said Prof. Nandish
Dilip Bharadwaj, medical software graduate, presently working in Cerner healthcare said the course is a perfect blend of both bio medical software and technical aspects that serve the purpose.
Ravi Kiran C.R. Design Engineer in General Electronic (GE) said, "Syllabus in Manipal University for the course is restructured every year and updated to the current industry advancements and requirements, especially in India". Thus students of this course will study medical imaging which is a technique and process used to create images of the human body or its parts from this year onwards.
He said, first year of the program involves course work at Manipal Centre for Information Science, to build the required domain and technical knowledge to develop the software. The project in the second year of masters gets the students accustomed to the industry standards, he added.
Ranjita M Borulli, a student of medical software in Manipal said, "Since I am from computer science background, this course helps me know the software requirements by medical imaging equipments and devices."
The two-year program is open to those who have cleared a 4 years B.E. degree in the area of Computer science, Bio medical, Information science, Electronics and Communication or an equivalent degree.
The applications for the course offered by Manipal University will be available in April every year in the form of online or at SBI bank branches. All India entrance exams will be held in May- June. Candidates will be offered admission based on the merit list in the entrance examination.
