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Biomedical engineering developments in India
* Corresponding author: Dr. Kishore K. Deepak, Visiting Professor, Center for Biomedical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD), New Delhi, India. kkdeepak@gmail.com
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How to cite this article: Deepak KK. Biomedical engineering developments in India. Ann Natl Acad Med Sci (India). 2026;62:231-3. doi: 10.25259/ANAMS_112_2026
Biomedical engineering (BME) has an enormous scope in India, considering the growth of the medical device industry. Currently, India imports about 85–90% high end medical devices in terms of medical device imports. As per research and development (R&D) concerns, the field remains vastly unexplored since not many Indian technologies have seen entry into the market.
The fields covered by BME are manifold. Most medical disciplines have worked in silos; the scope has never been revealed on common platforms. However, it may cover almost all medical subjects for the purpose of innovation and developing newer technologies. In an organ-based system, the scope may include anatomy, surgery, orthopedics, cardiovascular surgeries, etc. In a systemic approach, the scope may include physiology, pharmacology, medicine, and all superspeciality areas. Virtually all 50+ medical disciplines can be involved in BME innovations. MedTech innovations are required from the bench to clinics to the community. The time has come for India to have innovations and indigenous developments in all fields.
With the implementation of Medical Device Rules in 2017 (MDR2017),1 India initiated several proactive policies to boost the development of medical devices- a sector termed as the Sunrise sector because of its expected fastest growth rate. From an engineering point of view, several BME departments/centers have been largely focusing on biomaterials, biomechanics, the use of AI in imaging, and bio-instrumentation.
THE BEGINNING IN INDIA
Research and development in India in the field of BME started long ago. A formal collaboration between All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) New Delhi and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi started in 19712 with initiatives taken by Prof. SK Guha (faculty at Harcourt Butler Technological Institute, Kanpur) and V. Ramalingswami, the Ramalingam director at AIIMS Delhi. The first unit of BME was created and housed on the first floor, PC block at AIIMS Delhi, headed by Prof. RK Mishra (who was heading the department of biophysics then). Gradually, this unit provided and facilitated BME in the initial years, focusing on rehabilitation engineering, providing innovative recording techniques (like impedance plethysmography), prosthetics engineering, etc. The Center for BME at IIT Delhi is the result of this very initiative taken by these stalwarts, like Dr. Ramalingswami and Dr. Guha. This vibrant center now focuses on 4 broad areas: biomechanics, biomaterials, bioinstrumentations, and medical imaging, and offers master’s and doctoral courses in the field. Around the same time in the early 70s, Biomedical research also started at IIT Madras.3 Later, the Sri Chitra Trinul Institute of Medical Science and Technology (SCIMST) has made several impacts in medical device development in our country. Besides, these institutes worth mentioning early birds were the Institute of Aviation Medicine, Bengaluru, National Physical Lab, Delhi and Modular Labs at Bhabha Atomic Research Center, Mumbai.
ACADEMIC ACTIVITIES
Several AIIMSs independently or in collaboration with IITs and allied institutions offer academic courses to pursue R&D in the field of BME. Some of them are described here.
IIT Delhi offers postgraduate (MTech & Master of Science (by Research) [MS{R}])) and Ph.D (for students from medical and allied fields). The admission is based on an interview, normally. AIIMS Bhopal offers M.Sc in Translational Medicine. AIIMS Jodhpur and IIT Jodhpur jointly offer a multidisciplinary M.Sc./MTech. and a Ph.D. in medical technologies. The curriculum is structured around identifying clinical problems, inventing solutions, and implementing deep-tech enterprise startups. For most courses, the eligible conditions typically include graduates in medicine (MBBS), nursing, biosciences, engineering streams, and allied sciences. There are several private institutions that offer graduate courses in BME. There have been several joint ventures seen recently, with foreign universities to collaborate in BME in India. Worth mentioning is Stanford India Biodesign, which is a collaboration between AIIMS Delhi, IIT Delhi, and Stanford University, USA. Now it has been renamed School of International Biodesign (SiB) and is run by Department of Biotechnology, India. It offers a hands-on MedTech fellowship designed to empower the next generation of medical innovators to design affordable, accessible, and market-ready medical technologies. This provides a 2-year fellowship to students from medical/engineering/allied fields. The SiB has made a significant impact and has about 4 dozen devices in the market.4
Govt. initiatives
The recent development in the MedTech field has been fueled by several initiatives by Govt of India.
It opened up 100% foreign direct investment in 2014; Implemented MDR2017; created and provided assistance to Med Device Industry for common Facility Center in 2019; created Med Device Parks in 2020; started production linked incentive (PLI) scheme for Medical Device Development in 2020; promoted standing Forum of Medical Device Industry Associations (2021); established National Medical Devices Promotion Council [NMDPC] in 2022; established Medical Device and Diagnostic Mission (MDMS) Secretariat at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in 2022 and Health Tech Assessment in India (HTAIn) under Department of Health Research.
The MDMS secretariat at ICMR is set up to fulfil several objectives, such as to promote make-in-India product development, to nurture clinical validation systems, to support and catalyze R&D and indigenous manufacturing and to have cost-effective strategies in a mission-mode consortia approach.5 For example, MDMS secretariat supports a national-level facility called m-Pragati (MedTech Product Development Acceleration Gateway of India) at IIT Delhi, where scientists/physicians can get world-level quality 3-D printing of any given material. From ∼10 microns to ∼1 m, medical implants can be designed, printed, and tested at M-Pragati. It is an ISO-certified, C-GMP-compliant MedTech development, manufacturing, and testing facility.6,7
HTAIn under DHR provides documentation for evidence-based decision making, a platform for conduction of studies to collect evidence to document, cost effectiveness, clinical efficacy, safety, affordability, projections and Quality.
ICMR-DHR centers of excellence (CoE) at IITs/IIT-like institutes are a flagship program of ICMR-DHR, which aims to develop make-in-India product development in synergise with the requirements of the national health missions and other programs of the Government of India. The ICMR-DHR CoEs will implement the projects in collaboration with medical institutes and industry partners to drive unmet healthcare need-driven product development, scale-up and commercialization. The objectives for these ICMR-DHR CoE are: To develop medical devices and diagnostic technologies; To provide infrastructure for biomedical device innovation and product development; To synergize with medical institutes to develop need-driven healthcare solutions; To facilitate clinical validation and initiate commercialization. There are six IITs involved in this initiative: Bombay (Coordinator), Madras, Kanpur, Kharagpur, Hyderabad and Guwahati.
The Department of Science and Technology (Govt. of India) also started two hubs for promoting the development of medical devices; one at Anna University, Tamil Nadu and the other in Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh. Both are promoting the technological developments in the country, besides 4 National-level MedTech Innovation Parks.
All these initiatives made a holistic thrust to boost the growth of medical device initiatives.
Initiatives by organization/Industry
BME Society of India (BMESI) has been active and promoting the cause of BME activities in India since 1994. There are other societies in India that address specific issues in BME. In pursuance of govt support and rise in the market of MedTech, several industry houses and venture capital have started supporting medical innovations and technological developments in India. However, it is much less considering the market size in India. More information is available in a white paper produced by IIT Madras under the direction of Niti Ayog in 2020.
Issues, challenges and solutions
In spite of proactive actions and initiatives taken by Govt. and the institutions, the field of BME is struggling with various issues.
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a.
Job opportunities: Unfortunately, not many hospitals and Institutions have a good number of job openings in India. Some AIIMSs have created and started a few posts of BME to help the institutes take care of instruments and devices. However, there is no set academic department where they are supposed to work and do R&D. In the absence of career growth, the young IIT graduates are poorly attracted to this option. This can be tackled by creating the job scope within the AIIMS and other premier institutions. They should develop a network within academic units (like physiology and medicine) to develop the ecosystem to nurture fertile soil for concept formation for medical innovations. These BMEs may engage in device usage mapping, forecasting, need statements and help advise the R & D by joining hands with academic units.
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b.
Academic conflicts: In the absence of a laid-down mechanism at medical institutions, several times the collaborating faculty (or even institutions) end up in serious conflicts related to publication ethics and infringements of intellectual property rights. More conflicts arise when the innovative product goes (IPR) to market. At this time, institutions like National Research Development Corporation, or local Tech innovation and facilitations are helpful. It is suggested that all medical institutions have a clear policy on IPR issues. As these policies are already available with ICMR, one just needs to adopt them and make their faculty aware of them through regular Faculty Development Programs. It is happy to note that some AIIMS have started adopting the IPR-related policies.
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c.
Issues with medical teaching: In spite of the Govt initiative for the development of the MedTech sector, the teaching in the large number of medical institutions and colleges remains theoretical and does not address and encourage young minds to innovate and engage in entrepreneurship. There is a disconnect between basic sciences (where the thought and solutions lie) and the clinical sciences (where the need may be generated/problems can be identified). A similar disconnect is seen between medical and engineering sciences. My suggestion would be to (a) Introduce the medical innovations and entrepreneurship in MBBS/allied sciences curriculum, and (b) Officially attach a medical institution/college to a nearby technological/engineering institution. There is a need for inter-institutional and inter-departmental exposures/and cross-discipline immersions.
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Medical Institution and Industry connect: Very few hospitals associated with Medical Institution/medical colleges have connections with Industry. They should have a Department/unit like Translational Medicine or Dept of BME. The need of the hospital should be discussed for in-country development of solutions to medical needs.
These are issues that are addressed systematically and will ensure a steady development of BME programs in India. A detailed account of issues in India is available elsewhere.8,9
References
- Medical device rules (MDR) 2017: Available from: https://cdsco.gov.in/opencms/resources/UploadCDSCOWeb/2022/m_device/Medical%20Devices%20Rules,%202017.pdf. [Last accessed 2026 Jun 10].
- Annual report 1972. All India institute of medical sciences, New Delhi. Available from: https://elibrary.sansad.in/handle/123456789/130111 [Last accessed 2026 Jul 14].
- ”Biomedical engineering science at Indian institute of technology, Madras 1972”, by D.N. Ghista, Automedica 1974;1 Available from: https://sites.google.com/site/dhanjooghista/Publications [Last accessed 2026 Jun 11].
- School of international biodesign. Available from: https://schoolofbiodesign.in/[Last accessed 2026 Jun 10].
- Medical device and diagnostics mission secretariat. Available from: https://mdms.icmr.org.in/[Last accessed 2026 10 June]
- m-Pragati, IIT Delhi: Available from: https://www.mpragati.in/[Last accessed 2026 Jun 10].
- Center for Biomedical Engineering. Key dignitaries visit mPragati. Available from: https://cbme.iitd.ac.in/news/33 [Last accessed 2026 Jul 14].
- Future of biomedical engineering programs in India: A white paper produced by IIT Madras under direction of INSA and endorsed by Niti Ayog, GoI, in 2021. Available from: https://www.iitm.ac.in/happenings/press-releases-and-coverages/iit-madras-releases-white-paper-biomedical-engineering. [Last accessed 2026 Jun 13].
- Muralidharan E, Kalanidhi A. “Biomedical engineering: Current status and issues for developments in India,” Proceedings of the first regional conference, IEEE engineering in medicine and biology society and 14th conference of the biomedical engineering society of India. An international meet, New Delhi, India, 1995;2/101-2/102.