India developing world’s most advanced affordable Artificial Heart

BY S VENKAT NARAYAN    Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, October 30:India is developing the world’s most advanced and affordable Artificial Heart, or a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD). And it is being greeted as the next big thing in world healthcare because an Artificial Heart is rated as one of the most complex machines to build.

A left ventricular assist device (LVAD) or Artificial Heart is a pump used in patients with end-stage heart failure as a bridge while awaiting a heart transplant or as a destination therapy for those unable to go in for a transplant. It is an implantable battery-operated, mechanical pump, which helps the left ventricle (main pumping chamber of the heart) pump blood to the rest of the body.

The School of Medical Research and Technology (SMRT) at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur ((IIT-K) in Uttar Pradesh has announced the launch of Hridyantra, a grand challenge-based programme to develop the world’s most advanced Artificial Heart or a Left Ventricular Assist device (LVAD). The SMRT is a platform of interdisciplinary teaching and research in diverse areas of medical science and technology.

The programme is in collaboration with India’s leading hospitals, and will promote the vision of made in India for the world. A team of innovators with relevant experience has been selected under the mentorship of a task force composed of industry experts.  As many as 32% of global deaths are due to cardiovascular disease, making it the commonest cause of death. Replacing the diseased heart with an artificial one (Left Ventricular Assist Device, LVAD) is the logical solution. “But when a solution is not affordable it’s not really a solution. When an artificial heart costs nearly INR 10 million in India and over a million dollars in America, it’s not a solution,” says Dr Devi Shetty, a cardiac surgeon and Chairman and Founder of Narayana Health, a chain of 24 hospitals and seven heart centres.

Only 29,000 rich patients have had an artificial heart implanted globally.The challenge to develop India’s first LVAD system is open to basic sciences, medical and engineering graduates or graduates of any stream with relevant experience. Some of the IIT Kanpur alumni based abroad with a vast knowledge of building machines to support failing hearts have become part of the mentor group.

 The SMRT chose eight out of over 200 candidates for the team. This team will build the artificial heart on the IIT Kanpur campus, and own the Intellectual Property (IP) rights to eventually commercialise it and pay reasonable royalty to IIT K. The selected candidates will receive a fellowship and a milestone-based ownership in the commercial entity once the LVAD is successfully commercialized and launched.

Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Director, IIT Kanpur said: “IIT Kanpur is known for its pioneering role in launching high-impact projects in the fields of entrepreneurship and innovation. With Hridyantra, we are moving another step forward in realizing our vision of an Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self-Reliant India) by supporting indigenous talent with critical R&D support.”

He added: “The programme, providing an innovation platform for enterprising problem solvers, will not only enrich the health ecosystem of the country, but will also lead the way in interdisciplinary biomedical research and innovation. This is our moonshot project, the success of which will determine the journey ahead and will boost the morale of everyone involved.”

The SMRT has created a power packed task force that includes engineering faculty members from IIT Kanpur, industry experts from the USA, and clinical experts from Narayana Health, All India Institute of Medical Sciences-Delhi (AIIMS Delhi), Apollo, Fortis Healthcare, Medanta, KIMS, and UN Mehta Heart Institute to handhold the selected fellows on developing the Artificial Heart. Hridyantra aims to be India’s most prestigious and impactful medical device innovation programme.

The initial capital for the project is paid by IIT-K alumni, and future capital will come as grants and donations from government and private funding agencies.The IIT-K is not planning to build the “world’s cheapest artificial heart” but the “world’s most advanced artificial heart.” It will be affordable since the entire development cost is paid through grants and donations.

Dr Devi Shetty says: “The model developed by IIT-K is a game-changer. It provides a magical platform for young entrepreneurs. If all the IITs and government-funded research institutes embrace a similar strategy to develop moonshot projects, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of Self-Reliant India will come true in less than a decade.”