The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams’ (TTD) Sri Venkateswara Institute of Medical Sciences (SVIMS) and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) have achieved significant progress in the third round of deliberations pertaining to manufacture and use of biomedical implants.
The meeting, attended by Scientific Adviser to Raksha Mantri G. Satheesh Reddy (who earlier headed the DRDO) and SVIMS Director and Vice-Chancellor B. Vengamma here on Saturday, discussed the arrangement being worked out with the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), functioning under the aegis of the DRDO, towards this task, and the role of the Defence Bio-Engineering and Electro Medical Laboratory (DEBEL) in handling state-of-the-art life support systems and biomedical devices.
Member of Parliament M. Gurumoorthy, who is also a physiotherapist by profession, explained that the country still imported a chunk of biomedical implants required for heart, spine and head surgeries, adding that making the same in the country would save nearly ₹20,000 crore for the exchequer.
Special Secretary to Chief Minister R. Harikrishna, SVIMS Medical Superintendent Ram took part.
Dr. Satheesh Reddy and Dr. Gurumoorthy later visited Sri Padmavati Hrudayalaya, the TTD’s centre for heart diseases in infants, where its Director N. Sreenath Reddy explained the treatment being extended to babies having congenital cardiac disorders.
