ISIC to set up laboratory to test quality of implants

New Delhi: The Indian Spinal Injuries Centre (ISIC) will set up a laboratory to test the quality of implants to ensure that indigenous products meet global standards. ISIC will collaborate with premier institutions such as IIT to develop the laboratory, its medical director H S Chhabra said.

Implants developed in India often do not match up to the international standards. There is no comprehensive implant testing laboratory in India now, he said at the inauguration of the 3rd International Conference on Clinical Orthopaedics and Spine Biomechanics.

"The implants developed in India do not go through the rigorous quality checks and we are largely dependent on imports for quality implants most of which are designed for Caucasian population and may not suit the Indian body types. We will collaborate with premier institutions such as IIT to develop this laboratory and ensure products complying with international standard. I thank the faculty members and engineers from India and abroad to help us set up this first-of-its kind laboratory in India," Chhabra said.

Medical fraternity converged at the inauguration of the three-day event emphasised the importance of artificial intelligence (AI) and technological advancement for customised products and better services, and hoped that the increasing importance of health care in election campaigns and overall political discourse will provide the necessary impetus.

"The sustainable development goals (SDGs) have a social aspect and health care is at the heart of social development. If we look around the world, health has become an important issue in the election – elections in the US, the UK, Turkey, Japan and India have seen focus on health care programmes.

This creates a great momentum for the development of the health care services and bringing more people with disability to the mainstream," says A K Mukherjee, Director General of Indian Spinal Injuries Centre, New Delhi.

"Artificial intelligence has become the new electricity. Our health care development is centered around technical development. Along with AI, technological development will play a very critical role in evolving evidence-based understanding. We got a National Healthcare Policy after 14 years and the NITI Aayog is developing a program on healthcare that is AI-based to a great extent.

Biotech is another area that holds a lot of promise but developing its experimental side will need a lot of investment – by 2030, an estimated $ 6 trillion will be used for healthcare programmes, mainly due to the rapid spread of non-communicable diseases," Mukherjee said.

The three-day conference, organised as collaboration between the Indian Spinal Injuries Centre (ISIC), the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, the Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) and the University of Toledo, will be held till April 28.

Hailing the efforts of ISIC in setting up a biomechanics laboratory at the premises, Dr Patrick Kluger, an eminent spine surgeon from Germany, says, "Biomechanics laboratories and clinics remain disconnected, mostly. It is important that both biomechanics and clinics are available in one place for a better implementation of the new developments."