The Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology (SCTIMST), Thiruvananthapuram (Trivandrum), India is an Institute of National Importance established in 1974 by the government of Kerala. Now it is an autonomous Institute with National Importance under the administrative control of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India.[1]
The institute focuses on patient care, technology development of industrial significance and health research studies of social relevance. The stress is on development of facilities such as interventional radiology, cardiac electro-physiology, pre-surgical evaluation and surgery for epilepsy, microsurgery and deep brain stimulation for movement disorders, new biomedical devices and products, evaluation of medical devices to global specifications, new academic programmes and global public health networks.
The institute has a dedicated team of clinicians, scientists and engineers devoted to biomedical research and developing technologies in health care with emphasis on cardiovascular and neurological diseases.
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The Biomedical Technology Wing has played a pioneering role in the establishment of a medical device industry base in India by successfully developing and transferring technologies for diverse medical products such as disposable blood bag system, mechanical heart valve prosthesis, blood oxygenators, ophthalmic sponge, concentric needle electrode, hydroxyapatite based biocermaic porous granules with many more in the pipeline with industrial collaboration.It has also been the only institute in India to have developed an artificial heart valve that is currently manufactured and marketed by TTK.
The institute holds international patents for devices and processes and holds the record for maximum number of patents in Kerala.[2] The Biomedical Technology Wing has implemented a quality system to meet the requirements of international standard ISO/IEC 17025. About 20 of these tests are accredited by the Comité français d'accréditation (Cofrac) of France.
The hospital has the following departments:
SCTIMST has a 239-bed hospital for tertiary care of cardiovascular and neurological diseases. It conducts clinics in cardiology, cardiovascular and thoracic, neurology, neurosurgery and radiology for the public.
The institute has the status of a university and offers postdoctoral, doctoral and postgraduate courses in medical specialties, public health, nursing, basic sciences and health care technology. It is a member of the Association of Indian Universities and the Association of Commonwealth Universities.
The courses includes MPH, DM Neurology, DM Cardiology, DM Neuroradiology, DM Anaesthesia, MCh Neurosurgery, MCh Cardiothoracic Surgery, MCh Vascular Surgery, M.Tech Clinical Engineering (joint program with IIT Madras and CMC Vellore), diploma in Nursing, Cardiac Laboratory Technology, Neuro Technology, Advanced Medical Imaging, Blood Banking Technology, Post DM/MCh Fellowships and Ph.D. in bio-medical streams.