Indian Health Care Sector

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 06 Aug 2011 08:33

Medical Tourism to touch Rs. 10800 Crores by 2015: Assocham

The market size of the Indian medical tourism sector is likely to more than double to Rs.10,800 crore by 2015 from Rs.4,500 crore at present, Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (Assocham) on Friday said in its study.

The inflow of medical tourists in India is also likely to cross 32 lakh by 2015 from the current level of 8.5 lakh, it said.

“Top-notch healthcare facilities like cardiology, joint replacement, orthopaedic surgery, transplants and urology at a low price are certain key factors making India a favoured destination in terms of medical tourism,” the study said.

States like Andhara Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and New Delhi are fast emerging as India's best medical centres with several hospitals and specialty clinics coming up in the cities, it said.

India is also offering other medical services like yoga, meditation and ayurveda, which is increasingly becoming popular as a non-surgical treatment for various ailments among foreign patients.

The country attracts large number of medical tourists from the Middle East, America, Europe and also from neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

However, it said that the country is facing tough competition in the sector from nations like Australia, Belgium, Greece, Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa and Thailand that are actively promoting healthcare tourism worldwide.

The study has proposed to develop ‘Multi-specialty Health City' on public-private partnership basis at 10 centres — Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kochi, New Delhi, Puducherry and Pune.

“The proposal envisages setting up super-specialty hospitals in an eco-friendly atmosphere...with highly trained English-speaking healthcare professionals at affordable price,” the study said.

Both Central and State governments need to play key role in setting up these centres, the Assocham study said.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 14 Aug 2011 07:23

India-specific diagnostic normal values to be ready by 2013

Diagnostic standards specific to the Indian population will be ready by 2013, V.M. Katoch, secretary, Department of Health Research, and Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said on Saturday.

The pilot studies would begin during this year, Dr. Katoch said. A total of six states would be covered by next year and by the following year, 2013, the India-specific diagnostic values would be firmed up, he added.

The project was conceived as a means of evolving diagnostic values for the Indian ethnic group. The current laboratory health parameters (for instance, haemoglobin, blood pressure or blood sugar) are based on Western populations, and it was felt that the time had come to evolve India-specific ‘normal values.'

Dr. Katoch was speaking after inaugurating a two-day national consultation on identifying priorities in public health research in the country at the National Institute of Epidemiology (NIE), here {Chennai} . He said that the stress on research on communicable diseases continued, what with expanding cities and uneven distribution of services, but Non Communicable Diseases (NCD) are ‘upon us' already and several research projects have been initiated. “It [NCD] will be a priority area for us,” Dr. Katoch added.

The ICMR and DHR would also focus on encouraging Indian Systems of Medicine (ISM) to be part of the mainstream. “We will help them grow so that globally, no questions would be asked of them. We will provide them with the way for research evidence gathering,” Dr. Katoch stressed. The idea is to provide access to ISM under the same roof as allopathy, so that people could make the choice about their mode of treatment.

The consultation was an attempt to involve field staff and researchers in setting the priorities of health research in the country. The ideas would move from the peripheries to the centre and eventually, the policy and funding would be decided by those closest to, and thus aware of the needs of, the community/people.

nithish · Post by **nithish** » 20 Aug 2011 17:42

Bengal to get an AIIMS

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Saturday said a hospital on the lines of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi will be built in the state.

"We want to make good hospitals in the state. We want to build a super specialty hospital in Kalyani (in Nadia district) on the lines of AIIMS. I've already written to the central government regarding it. Our state was entitled to get one AIIMS," said Banerjee while addressing a programme in a private hospital here.

The chief minister also spoke of the "urgent need" for a health mission for urban India.

"There is an urgent need for an urban health mission on the lines of rural health mission as there are lot of poor people in the urban sectors of India. I would request (Minister of State for Health) Sudip Bandopadhyay to look into the matter," she said.

nithish · Post by **nithish** » 22 Aug 2011 04:13

New drug could cure nearly any viral infection

Most bacterial infections can be treated with antibiotics such as penicillin, discovered decades ago. However, such drugs are useless against viral infections, including influenza, the common cold, and deadly hemorrhagic fevers such as Ebola.

Now, in a development that could transform how viral infections are treated, a team of researchers at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory has designed a drug that can identify cells that have been infected by any type of virus, then kill those cells to terminate the infection.
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Rider drew inspiration for his therapeutic agents, dubbed DRACOs (Double-stranded RNA Activated Caspase Oligomerizers), from living cells’ own defense systems.

When viruses infect a cell, they take over its cellular machinery for their own purpose — that is, creating more copies of the virus. During this process, the viruses create long strings of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), which is not found in human or other animal cells.

As part of their natural defenses against viral infection, human cells have proteins that latch onto dsRNA, setting off a cascade of reactions that prevents the virus from replicating itself. However, many viruses can outsmart that system by blocking one of the steps further down the cascade.

Rider had the idea to combine a dsRNA-binding protein with another protein that induces cells to undergo apoptosis (programmed cell suicide) — launched, for example, when a cell determines it is en route to becoming cancerous. Therefore, when one end of the DRACO binds to dsRNA, it signals the other end of the DRACO to initiate cell suicide.
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Most of the tests reported in this study were done in human and animal cells cultured in the lab, but the researchers also tested DRACO in mice infected with the H1N1 influenza virus. When mice were treated with DRACO, they were completely cured of the infection. The tests also showed that DRACO itself is not toxic to mice.

The researchers are now testing DRACO against more viruses in mice and beginning to get promising results. Rider says he hopes to license the technology for trials in larger animals and for eventual human clinical trials.

nithish · Post by **nithish** » 23 Aug 2011 22:56

Urine test for TB shows promise

Testing urine samples for specific chemicals could serve as a quick and painless way to detect tuberculosis (TB), according to Indian researchers.

The urine test offers a less invasive diagnostic method for an infectious disease that causes three million deaths and 10 million new cases worldwide each year. Developing countries account for 95 per cent of new infections and 98 per cent of deaths.

The Delhi-based International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) and the Lala Ram Sarup Institute of Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases, collaborated with the National University of Singapore to develop the test.

The test measures five specific chemicals present in urine, the researchers reported last month (July) in Analytical Chemistry, published by the American Chemical Society.

TB diagnosis relies mainly on a test to detect Mycobacterium tuberculosis in blood or sputum samples taken from the lung and examined under a microscope.

Diagnostic tests based on 'serum' — the clear liquid separated from clotted blood — are not sensitive, especially in people vaccinated against TB.

Drug-resistant cases need an expensive, sophisticated test that takes two weeks of culturing blood samples to detect the bacterium.

Developing countries prefer a simple test requiring minimum resources and trained personnel, and one that gives quick and easily interpreted results, the Delhi scientists observed.

Their technique measures five 'volatile organic compounds' (VOCs) in urine that have a low boiling point and vaporise at room temperature.

The team tested the method in 117 fresh cases of TB and found significantly different levels of these chemicals in TB patients, compared with healthy people.

It found a distinct pattern — three VOCs showed higher levels and two lower levels — in TB patients, not seen in healthy persons or in patients with lung ailments such as lung cancer or asthma.

The levels could also indicate the effect of treatment, the team said.

"A major advantage of the proposed method is the non-invasive nature of urine collection. Urine is a comparatively safer matrix as compared to sputum and painless in collection as compared to blood," it added.

ICGEB scientist Ranjan Nanda, one of the authors of the paper, explained to SciDev.Net that this was the first stage.

Nanda's team plans to validate the findings from multiple sites across India and involve a larger number of patients using improved data acquisition methods.

The team also plans to profile other VOCs in urine samples “to identify the maximum number of molecules,” Nanda said.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 24 Aug 2011 10:02

Twins delivered safely after rare surgery

Twelve tense weeks after a successful laser therapy conducted on two foetuses in the womb to deal with a case of Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome, the babies were delivered and both of them are healthy. The treatment was given by the Twins Unit of Mediscan Systems, a Chennai-based concern. Since March, fetoscopy and laser therapy have been available and cases are being referred to the centre from all parts of India.

This life-saving procedure was the result of a coordinated team effort of Mediscan Systems and Seethapathy Hospital with a team of foetal medicine specialists, high risk obstetricians and neonatologists. The babies were delivered safely and taken immediately to Metha hospital for neonatal care. The twins are doing better than anticipated by their mother Vinnarasi.

Twin babies with a single placenta (monochorionic twins) have blood vessels communicating with each other. Typically, blood from one twin flows into the other through these channels and happens in such a way that the blood flow to both the babies is balanced. In about 15 percent of the cases, there is an imbalance of blood supply. The quantity of blood brought back from one foetus is not equal to the flow into it, which causes one foetus to be deprived of blood supply and nutrition, while the other receives more than its required share. This condition is called Twin to Twin Transfusion Syndrome (TTTS). In this condition, there can be an accumulation of fluid around one twin and lack of fluid around the other. Both babies are therefore affected in this condition. The uterus becomes bigger and there is a risk of preterm delivery.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 24 Aug 2011 22:02

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/233235.php

Algorithm To Improve Remote Electrocardiography Developed By UT Researchers
Today someone in a remote village in India is able to run an electrocardiogram (ECG) via their smart phone on a loved one having a potential heart attack and send to a doctor in New Delhi for analysis. Mobile technology is already bringing health care to places it has never been able to reach. However, there is still room for error that can lead to misdiagnosis. Xiaopeng Zhao, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, is working to eliminate these errors. Zhao and his team of graduate and undergraduate students and physicians have developed an award-winning algorithm that improves the effectiveness of ECGs.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 25 Aug 2011 07:56

Efforts to prevent maternal mortality successful

Tamil Nadu's health care initiative of using NASG (Non Pneumatic Anti Shock Garments) also called life wraps, to reduce Post-Partum Haemorrhage (PPH) deaths – 22 per cent of deaths among mothers of newborns – has started showing some positive results.

The initiative aims to bring down MMR below 30 and was introduced in ten districts including Salem about two years ago.

According to health experts, after introduction of NASG, maternal mortality rate (MMR) in Salem district is showing a downward trend.

“Of 55,000 live births recorded last year in Salem district, 50 to 55 mothers had died and 15 to 20 of them due to PPH, which is preventable. In Salem district it is 0.85 per cent MMR per 1,000 live births during last year. We hope to have a reduced mortality of at least by one-third this year,” a senior doctor in Government Hospital says.

Department of Health and Family Welfare in association with Pathfinder International, which also provides technical support, has supplied 400 NASG vests to Government Medical College Hospitals, Government Hospitals, Upgraded PHCs and 108 Ambulance services in the State to ‘extend the crucial period of two hours to five hours, thus enabling the doctors to source blood for transfusion to the PPH-affected mothers without delay.'

Pathfinder conducted training for medics and paramedics under its State Coordinator Dr. Iyer, here recently.

“A PPH mom needs blood transfusion within two hours and these vests will help extend the timing so that those who are attending on an affected and dying mother can have more valuable time to procure blood and save the patient,” says Dr. J. Nirmalson, Principal, Health Manpower Development Institute, here.

The mothers will be wrapped up in these vests, made of neoprene, which prevent further bleeding in women with obstetric haemorrhage. When in shock, the brain, heart and lungs are deprived of oxygen because blood accumulates in the lower abdomen and legs.

The NASG reverses shock by returning blood to the heart, lungs and brain. This restores the pulse and blood pressure and it decreases bleeding from the parts of the body compressed under it.

Anyone after simple training can put the garment on a bleeding woman.

Once her bleeding is controlled, she can be safely transported to a referral hospital for emergency obstetrical care.

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 27 Aug 2011 04:10

In India, Drug Reps Get 20 Seconds With A Doc
http://www.pharmalot.com/2011/08/in-ind ... ith-a-doc/

Remember how side effects of a prescription med were read so quickly in television ads that it was impossible to understand the verbiage? Well, such speaking skills may come in handy in India, where sales reps are lucky if they get one minute to engage a doc. But one physician says the pitches are largely worthless.
“They often come pleading to me, asking me to prescribe their company’s drugs,” Bombay Hospital cardiologist PL Tiwari tells Bloomberg News. “I only give them 20 seconds or a minute. You can’t stop your consultation to entertain them…They’re waiting for hours and hours, and just to satisfy them, we listen. What benefit is a doctor going to get from their short speech?” The reps, however, may not realize this and to gain his attention, they often wait 90 minutes or more and must queue up on Friday nights, when he is willing to make the time. On one recent day, he heard overtures from 30 reps within eight minutes. Such is the state of competition in India.
“It’s an extremely competitive industry, and I have to visit some doctors once every week,” Avinash Singh, who pitches gynecologists on behalf of Bafna Pharmaceuticals, tells Bloomberg. “Each meeting will take one minute or so, but if we come regularly then they will hopefully prescribe more.” His goal is to meet at least 11 doctors each day and, for his trouble, Singh earns about 9,200 rupees, or $199, a month plus quarterly bonuses for meeting sales targets. Meanwhile, there will be at least three medical reps for every 10 doctors by 2020, triple the ratio from 2005, according to McKinsey. And labor costs, which equal 10 percent to 14 percent of sales for at least five major drugmakers, have increased by at least 27 percent on average, according to data from Batlivala & Karani Securities that is cited by the news service.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 27 Aug 2011 07:30

Apollo unveils new technology

A breakthrough MRI-guided and non-invasive, high intensity ultrasound procedure was unveiled for the first time in the country at Apollo Hospitals, Hyderabad for treatment of uterine fibroids in women.

The uterine fibroids are non-cancerous growths of the uterus with symptoms like heavy menstrual bleeding, prolonged menstrual periods, pain etc. Conventional treatment options included medication or surgical removal of fibroids. The uterine fibroids were leading cause for hysterectomies and among the top five surgical procedures world-wide.

The MRI-guided High Intensity focused Ultrasound (HIFU) solution from Philips would soon be available in other Apollo hospitals across the country in the next few days, said Dr. Prathap C. Reddy at a media conference here on Friday. The procedure will cost about Rs.70,000 to Rs.80,000 including follow-up.

Benefits

Dr. Sangita Reddy, Executive Director, Operations, Apollo Group, said the benefits of the three to four hour procedure for women include scar-free, non-invasive, non-radiation based therapy. It needed neither anaesthesia nor hospitalisation as the patients could go home the same day and resume their normal lifestyle.

The Rs.5.5 crore MR-HIFU system would use focused ultrasound waves to heat and coagulate benign or cancerous tumour deep inside the body without damaging intervening tissue with the help of imaging technology provided by MR, said Mr. Sham Sokka, CTO, Director Research, Clinical, Philips, in his presentation.

Phillips Healthcare, India, Vice-President and Business Head Krishna Kumar said secondary stage of cancer in bones could be addressed with this procedure. The procedure could also be extended for treatment of breast and prostrate cancer in future.

Later Dr. Prathap Reddy said that they were actively looking for a site to set up a 250 bed hospital at Chittagong and also exploring suitable sites with accessibility to set up hospitals in the North-East.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 30 Aug 2011 07:05

Study nails genetic links to diabetes

If it is diabetes, there must be a Chennai connection.

A city-based research centre has contributed to international research that has reportedly discovered six new genetic variants linked to Type 2 diabetes among South Asians.

The study entitled “Genome Wide Association study in people of South Asian ancestry identifies six novel susceptibility loci for type 2 diabetes” was published in the recent edition of Nature Genetics . Indian collaborators from Madras Diabetes Research Foundation (MDRF) and Dr. Mohan's Diabetes Specialities Centre (DMDSC) here worked along with a team of scientists from the UK and South Asian nations, analysing genetic data from more than 58,000 people of South Asian ancestry.

South Indian patients with type 2 diabetes and non-diabetic control subjects were selected from the Chennai Urban Rural Epidemiology Study (CURES), according to V.Mohan, President, MDRF. His team included Radha Venkatesan, head, Molecular Genetics, and Chidambaram Manickam and Liju Samuel, research scholars.

In addition to the south, persons of Sikh origin from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, and Jammu and Kashmir were also included in the study.

Higher risk

People of South Asian ancestry are at up to four-fold higher risk of type 2 diabetes compared to European populations. Type 2 diabetes currently affects about 55 million South Asians worldwide, about 50 million of whom are in India.

Replication studies

Dr. Mohan said studying large numbers of genetic samples enhanced the chances of finding subtle associations of genetic variants with specific diseases or traits.

Earlier, replication studies on gene variants associated with diabetic people of European ancestry had been carried out in the South Indian population, indicating the involvement of other genes associated with this ethnic group, according to Mr. Manickam.

‘An important step'

Dr. Radha Venkatesan adds that the discovery of these genes is a very important step to understand the genetics of diabetes in the Indians. It should be stressed that these genes relate to a predisposition for developing diabetes in Indians.

Further, studying how these genes are regulated and expressed is the next important and logical step to understand the biology of the disease, Dr. Mohan added.

joshvajohn · Post by **joshvajohn** » 31 Aug 2011 06:18

Indian medicine students get a fillip
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city ... 790985.cms

Quality certificate for ayurvedic medicines
http://www.inewsone.com/2011/08/30/qual ... ines/72383

I do not understand why Indian government and regional governments are not investing in the research centres which will bring enormous potential healing ability and power of Indian local medicines and patent them some of them have to be tested at some scale and then patent them.

This is a huge industry which is yet to be discovered with all medicines that has even healing power for all kind of illness.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 31 Aug 2011 08:52

Newborn deaths account for 41% of child mortality

India has the greatest number of newborn deaths — more than 9 lakh a year. Just five countries now account for more than half of the world's 3.3 million newborn deaths — India, Nigeria, Pakistan, China and Democratic Republic of Congo. Each year 3.3 million babies still die in the first four weeks of life — despite the existence of proven, cost-effective interventions that could save these newborns, said the study's co-author, Dr. Joy Lawn of Save the Children's ‘Saving Newborn Lives' programme. {It is awareness, access and affordability, the Three A's, that can solve this problem}

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 01 Sep 2011 22:40

http://blog.drmalpani.com/2011/09/where ... neurs.html
Where are the Indian medical entrepreneurs ?

The Indian healthcare industry has become sick and disruptive innovations are needed to heal
it ! This is a huge business opportunity . We need to remember that healthcare spending in India today accounts for less than 4.2% of the GDP, whereas in most developed countries it is 6-9% and in the USA it is as much as 16%. This means there is immense growth potential in India in this sector ! Since doctors deal with patients daily, and see the problems and pain points firsthand, one would expect them to be leaders in creating fixes to heal the system. However, they are very few medical entrepreneurs in India today . I feel there are many reasons for this. For one, doctors are part of the problem themselves ! They are so used to making patients wait, that they don’t even realize that this unnecessary waiting creates a lot of patient dis-satisfaction ! All doctors think they personally have a great bedside manner and excellent communication skills, so they really don’t need to improve as individuals ! After all, if they weren’t good, would they be so busy taking care of so many
patients ? Why fix something which isn’t broken ?

gakakkad · Post by **gakakkad** » 01 Sep 2011 22:49

>>> Where are the Indian medical entrepreneurs ?

Here I am. Well almost .

Actually all private practitioners are entrepreneurs. I know a radio guy who has PACS business. Easing out registration and taxation norms and giving tax incentives can surely help.

chackojoseph · Post by **chackojoseph** » 02 Sep 2011 14:38

Tele-counselling helpline is certainly catching up : Ms Upasana Kamineni, Apollo Hospitals Group

She is the eldest daughter of Mr. Anil and Shobana Kamineni and the granddaughter of Dr Prathap C Reddy, Founder-Chairman of Apollo Hospitals

Airavat · Post by **Airavat** » 03 Sep 2011 07:10

Ranbaxy, Daiichi To Spend Over Rs 10 Crore On Mobile Healthcare Field Clinics By Next 5 Years

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 06 Sep 2011 10:53

Cancer, Bhatinda's dubious distinction

The crowd waiting to board train no 339 from Bathinda Railway Junction shares more than the overnight journey to Bikaner (Rajasthan), its passengers are bound together by the misery of cancer and the hope of getting cured. “I see close to a hundred people boarding the train every night...What else can be done, there is no hospital for nearly 150 km and every street has patients,” says Vicky Kumar who runs a tea stall at the station. “It's like a curse on the region, not a personal plight,” he added.

A family of five, from village Gehri Bhagi, 10 km from here, wait at the station to take their 17-year-old son to Bikaner. “We don't know why he got cancer in the food pipe, he takes no tobacco, no alcohol. But there have been over 15 cases in the last year in our village,” his mother breaks down while speaking about her son's illness.

A 2007 epidemiological study, known as the PPCB-PGIMER Report, found that Bathinda surface waters are contaminated with arsenic, cadmium, chromium, selenium and mercury. The waste water generated from industry “is drained mostly partially or untreated in the local drains, which had led to the pollution of these drains.” Pesticides such as heptachlor, ethion and chlorpyrifos were also higher in samples of drinking water, vegetables and blood in the cotton belt of Punjab. The study also found DNA mutations in 65 per cent of the blood samples, taken from over 5,000 randomly selected people. Despite the high positive correlation between cancer cases and modern farming methods and industrialisation, government-funded institutions report indecisive conclusions.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 07 Sep 2011 08:13

Surgery at birth to save baby from life-threatening cyst

A multi-departmental medical team at PSG Hospitals in the city {Coimbatore} has done a complicated procedure of providing assisted breathing for a male baby while removing it from the uterus and then removing a 12-cm lymph cyst that extended from ear to ear.

The team consisting of obstetricians and gynaecologists, paediatricians and paediatric surgeons and anaesthetists decided to do a caesarean as the foetus' neck was too swollen with the cyst for a normal delivery.

The cyst was choking the airway and the baby faced the risk of dying soon after birth. Therefore, the child had to be put on assisted breathing before cutting the umbilical cord. “We call this procedure ‘EXIT' (ex-utero intra-partum treatment), which enables rescue of the child and the mother,” explains obstetrician and gynaecologist T.V. Chitra, a core team member that carried out the procedure.

In addition to Dr. Chitra, the other three components the multi-department team were headed by A. Pavai (paediatric surgery), Sarah Paul (paediatrics) and Mushahida (anaesthesiology).

The woman's uterus was opened and the baby was taken out up to the neck while the rest of its body was still inside. The child was first put on assisted breathing. “Only then could we cut the umbilical cord, the life source for the foetus while in the uterus,” says Dr. Pavai.

Immediately after the assisted breathing (intubation) was established, the umbilical cord was cut, the baby removed from the uterus and so was a substantial portion of the lymph cyst.

The doctors say that this procedure involves a lot of risk for the mother. The uterus has to be kept open for as long as the assisted breathing is fully established. Normally, the uterus must be allowed to contract immediately after delivery. Prolonged expansion can lead to heavy bleeding.

“The success of this procedure should be attributed to a strong and experienced Foetal-Maternal Unit in our hospital. Only this kind of a multi-disciplinary unit can manage such cases,” says Dr. Pavai.

“We have removed most of the lymph cyst. The portions near the ears were not removed as vital blood vessels passed through this region. After six months, the cyst on either side near the ear can be shrunk through sclerotherapy (with injections),” she says.

nithish · Post by **nithish** » 12 Sep 2011 04:13

MIT's India innovator collaborated With IISc, IIT-Chennai

A communication device to help the speech-impaired that otherwise costs Rs 5 lakh in the West is now available for Rs 30,000 in India. No wonder the inventor of the device has been described by MIT Technology Review as Innovator of the Year 2011 and is among the Review's Top 35 Innovators of the Year.

Cracking the MIT Top 35 list is not easy but this 29-year-old has done it. Ajit Narayanan, an engineer, with extensive help from his colleagues at IISc, IIT, Chennai and Inventions Lab, Chennai, a product engineering company, has developed this communication device, Avaz. It can be used to speak in six Indian languages.

Ajit, who also worked with A G Ramakrishnan of IISc's electrical engineering department and is now the CMD of Inventions Lab, told TOI: "Avaz is a device that supplements or replaces speech or writing for those with speech and writing impairments. It can be a permanent addition to a person's communication or a temporary aid."
Avaz also tries to automatically predict words based on the starting letters and their preceding words. Any person can build a sentence in a matter of seconds or a minute using Avaz in text mode.

To cater to a wider spectrum of disabilities, Avaz is also available in picture mode. The pictures have to be selected like the text options and once a group of pictures is selected, a message is expressed.

How did Ajit manage to make it affordable? "We have used many Indian components, Indian software and hardware from China. We've developed the device around existing devices like smart phones and tablets. Components for these are available easily and are now made in India. Existing platforms have helped me cut costs drastically."

WHAT IS IT AND HOW DOES IT WORK?
Avaz is a small tablet-like portable computer for people with speech disorders like cerebral palsy and autism and can be used by people with intellectual impairment as also acquired conditions like Parkinson's disease.

The device converts limited muscle movements, like head or finger movements, into speech. It has a micro-processor with a touch screen and a sensor which detects body movements. Inputs from the sensor are used to create sentences which are then spoken out.

''It shows options on a screen and presents a highlight that moves between the different options. When the highlight dwells on an option a child wishes to choose, the child makes a muscle movement like shaking the head or touching the screen with the hand. The device then selects the highlighted option. When a full sentence has been constructed, Avaz converts the message into speech,'' he said.

nithish · Post by **nithish** » 18 Sep 2011 01:08

Coimbatore spine surgeon delivers Hunterian Oration

The president of the Association of Spine Surgeons of India and chairman of the Department of Orthopaedics and Spine Surgery at Ganga Hospital in Coimbatore, S. Rajasekaran, was chosen by the Royal College of Surgeons of England to deliver the Hunterian Oration for 2011.

Dr. Rajasekaran delivered the oration on Friday at Dublin in Ireland during the combined congress of the British and Irish Orthopaedic associations. John Getty, chairman of the Royal College, conducted the proceedings and awarded a medal to Dr. Rajasekaran.

The spine surgeon said that the Hunterian Committee of the Royal College elects one person every year from around the world, among all surgical specialties, as the Hunterian Professor. The chosen person is invited to present his or her work as an oration.
---------------------------
The work that fetched Dr. Rajasekaran the honour was “Growth modulation and buckling collapse of pediatric spine and its clinical implications.”

In a press release, he said this work had been done over a period of 15 years and was a classic example of successful “bench to bed-side research”. The research involved identifying the clinical sequence of events of massive spinal deformities.

More than two million children around the world suffered from this problem annually and this could lead to the onset of paralysis of limbs and early death due to cardio-respiratory failure, he said.

Dr. Rajasekaran's research involved methods of early identification of children who were at risk of such problems. The second stage of research involved studying the biomechanical forces across the growth plate of vertebra by the creation of a finite element model of a paediatric spine. The findings opened up the possibility of new methods of treatment of spinal deformities based on the principles of growth modulation.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 18 Sep 2011 15:14

In China's battle against new-born deaths, India can learn lessons

China has reduced deaths among newborn babies by almost two-thirds in little over a decade — an unprecedented success rate that a new study says holds lessons for countries like India still struggling with high neonatal and maternal mortality rates.

At the heart of China's success, the paper found, was a vast improvement in access to obstetric care in rural areas, and a nationwide programme that specifically targeted increasing the number of hospital births.

Five countries account for more than half the world's newborn deaths — India, China, Nigeria, Pakistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Some states have already started implementing these two (obstetric care and hospital births) on a large scale.

Pranay · Post by **Pranay** » 19 Sep 2011 17:35

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/19/healt ... ml?_r=1&hp

Chinese and Indian drug makers have taken over much of the global trade in medicines and now manufacture more than 80 percent of the active ingredients in drugs sold worldwide. But they had never been able to copy the complex and expensive biotech medicines increasingly used to treat cancer, diabetes and other diseases in rich nations like the United States — until now.

These generic drug companies say they are on the verge of selling cheaper copies of such huge sellers as Herceptin for breast cancer, Avastin for colon cancer, Rituxan for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and Enbrel for rheumatoid arthritis. Their entry into the market in the next year — made possible by hundreds of millions of dollars invested in biotechnology plants — could not only transform the care of patients in much of the world but also ignite a counterattack by major pharmaceutical companies and diplomats from richer countries.

Dr. Yusuf K. Hamied, chairman of the Indian drug giant Cipla Ltd., electrified the global health community a decade ago when he said he could produce cocktails of AIDS medicines for $1 per day — a fraction of the price charged by branded pharmaceutical companies. That price has since fallen to 20 cents per day, and more than six million people in the developing world now receive treatment, up from little more than 2,000 in 2001.

Dr. Hamied said in a telephone interview last week that he and a Chinese partner, BioMab, had together invested $165 million to build plants in India and China to produce at least a dozen biotech medicines. Other Indian companies have also built such plants. Since these medicines are made with genetically engineered bacteria, they must be tested extensively in patients before sale.

Once those tests are complete, Dr. Hamied promised to sell the drugs at a third of their usual prices, which typically cost tens of thousands of dollars for a course of treatment.

“And once we recover our costs, our prices will fall further,” he said. “A lot further.”

tejas · Post by **tejas** » 19 Sep 2011 19:09

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/world ... ref=health

** Deleted **

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 27 Sep 2011 02:21

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/09/26/2 ... ility.html
Mayo Clinic explores medical facility in India

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- The Mayo Clinic is looking for ways to connect with patients around the world and is exploring an expansion to India.Clinic spokesman Bryan Anderson says Mayo wants to share knowledge in new ways and improve global health. The Rochester-based health system operates hospitals in Arizona and Florida as well as clinics and hospitals in Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa.The St. Paul Pioneer Press (http://bit.ly/nBjLgq) says the Economic Times in India reported earlier the GMR Group was in talks with Mayo and Apollo Hospitals Group about the plan to open a facility. Apollo operates 54 hospitals, including medical centers, in India.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 28 Sep 2011 11:18

New technique minimises heart patient's trauma

The Minimally Invasive Hybrid Cardiac Surgery (MIHCS), a combination of minimal access heart surgery and catheter interventions, provides a less traumatic option for heart patients and presents the next step in the evolution of heart surgery, say doctors at Fortis Malar Hospitals.

The technologically advanced proecudre and tools obviates the need to make a large opening on the chest bone in classical surgery, and involves shorter operating time, lesser post-operative ICU and hospital stay

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 28 Sep 2011 18:13

Question: why hasn't medicine been more attractive a career for Indians in India( as opposed to ethnic Indians in North America, where it seems every 3rd or 4th person wants to become one) as a proportion of the population? India has too few doctors, relative to the large population. Sorry for the naivete, but how do so many millions manage without seeing a physician for years on end( if at all?)?

nithish · Post by **nithish** » 02 Oct 2011 03:10

‘Mystery brain disease’ kills 51 kids in 50 days in Bihar

Suspected encephalitis, a brain infection, has killed 51 children in Bihar's Gaya district in the last seven weeks, with three more kids succumbing to the disease, an official said on Saturday.

"Three more children died on Friday," an official said. Most of the children belong to Mahadalit families – poorest of the poor.

According to district health officials, all children have died at Anugrah Narain Medical College and Hospital (ANMCH) in Gaya, about 100 km from here. The children reported high fever, followed by bouts of unconsciousness and convulsions. AK Ravi of the hospital said that till date, more than 220 children with suspected encephalitis were admitted for treatment. "Most of the children were from rural areas of Gaya and neighbouring districts," he said.

"Over two dozen children are still battling for life," he said.

A district administration official said that suspected encephalitis hit Gaya in 2009, 2007 and 2005 and killed dozens of children. Two months ago, 55 children died in Muzaffarpur but the state government is yet to confirm these as encephalitis deaths.

Last month, union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad informed the Rajya Sabha that clinical and epidemiological data suggested that it was an outbreak of acute encephalitis syndrome, resulting in 150 cases and 55 deaths, mostly among children. In a written reply, the minister said these cases were reported from early June to mid-July from Muzaffarpur and its bordering areas in Bihar.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 03 Oct 2011 17:58

Prostate Cancer, a grave concern for Kerala

Prostate cancer (CaP) is going to be a major health problem in Kerala in no time as the incidence of carcinoma prostate has been increasing exponentially after 60 years.

A study on carcinoma prostate screening carried out by Dr Chitrathara, HOD and Senior Consultant of Surgical and Gynec Oncology, Lakeshore and Welcare Hospitals, pointed out that the incidence of carcinoma prostate is rising and occupies a seat in the list of 10 leading cancers in the State. The study was conducted for the Kerala Science and Technology.

According to Dr Chitrathara, they have diagnosed 4 CaP in 1,451 men and the incidence rate of CaP in age group of 50-75 is 4 out of 1,451 in the study (0.003). This is nearly half of the USA incidence. The incidence rate of in the age group 50-80 in US is 0.006. Prostate cancer is the most common malignancy in men worldwide. These data point towards the fact that Kerala is going to be demographically similar to developed countries in cancer statistics, she said.

Healthy men older than 50 years were screened by PSA (Prostate specific antigen) and DRE (digital rectal examination). The study population was mainly obtained from community camps and also included men attending general surgery for elective surgeries, male bystanders of female patients and men who came for executive check up during the study period.

vera_k · Post by **vera_k** » 03 Oct 2011 20:42

Varoon Shekhar wrote:Question: why hasn't medicine been more attractive a career for Indians in India( as opposed to ethnic Indians in North America, where it seems every 3rd or 4th person wants to become one) as a proportion of the population? India has too few doctors, relative to the large population. Sorry for the naivete, but how do so many millions manage without seeing a physician for years on end( if at all?)?

Indian governments have historically invested very little in healthcare. Since education was and is subject to socialist central planning, the consequence of the low investment was that very few medical college seats were made available. It was and is worse for specialities where because it costs a lot to train a surgeon, the government simply restricts the amount of surgeons trained by spending the bare minimum on colleges.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 04 Oct 2011 08:21

The low ratio of doctors to populations in India is not due to medicine as a career being 'unattractive'. Medicine is certainly a very attractive, lucrative career in India. This is borne out by the competition for seats in government medical colleges and the very high 'premium' to be paid for seats in private medical colleges. General medicine, dentistry, nursing, physiotherapy et al are very lucrative. The poor ratio is because of the huge infrastructure (medical colleges affiliated to fairly decent sized hospitals etc) that was needed and because of the extremely huge population. Comparing the western and Indian ratios of doctor availability would not be accurate. Even a group like 'Apollo Hospitals' with vast resources at its command is only now establishing medical colleges (after three decades of existence).

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 08 Oct 2011 14:22

Eye surgery telecast live to Rome

The live telecast of the glued intraocular surgery from Dr. Agarwal's Eye Hospital on Cathedral Road here {Chennai} to Rome, Italy, on Friday was the highlight of an ongoing continuing medical education programme in that city.

The glued intraocular lens (IOL) surgery technique was introduced by ophthalmologist Amar Agarwal in 2007.

According to him, so far 2,000 surgeries have been performed using the technique.

“The procedure is being done by some surgeons abroad too,” he said.

Later, Dr. Agarwal told reporters that the technique is used to rectify cataract in persons who have had a serious eye injury, especially victims of bomb blast, cracker injury or those who were born of consanguineous marriage.

The technique involves fixing an intraocular lens in the eye using biological (fibrin) glue, dispensing with the need for sutures.

“The glue keeps the lens in place. In some patients who had undergone surgery the lens had been displaced. We used the glued IOL method to fix them. We use foldable lens which are manufactured by a few companies and make very small incisions. The patient can see the next day and the healing is faster. A trained surgeon can perform the procedure in 10 minutes,” Dr. Agarwal added.

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 09 Oct 2011 08:49

200 angioplasties conducted at a 3-day workshop in Bengaluru

Two hundred patients, all from weaker sections of society, got a new lease of life thanks to an angioplasty workshop conducted by the Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research here.

The stents for the angioplasties, costing over Rs. 2 crore, were provided for free to patients with the support of two well-known interventional cardiologists based in the United States—Dr. Govindaraju Subramani (Wisconsin) and Dr. Devaraj (Los Angeles). The two of them also performed angioplasties during the workshop.

The poor and deserving patients, largely comprising rural farmers, autorickshaw and cab drivers, pensioners and senior citizens, were screened over the past 15 days after their eligibility status (income certificates etc.) were verified.

The most expensive component of an angioplasty is the stent, each costing between Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 1 lakh, which were donated by Metronic Vascular Division, United States.

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 09 Oct 2011 22:00

^^wow wonderful. Tx for posting SS

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 10 Oct 2011 07:19

The tough job of bridging technology and medicine

The researchers at the Center for Biophotonics Science and Technology, University of California Davis, stuck a single ball lens into the camera of an iPhone and rendered it into a microscope. The team published a paper in PLoS One recently, claiming that the images taken by this device can be used to accurately diagnose a variety of blood diseases.

At Tech Crunch's recent Disrupt event, developers managed to convert the iPhone into a heart monitor (Smartheart) and melanoma detection device (Skin Scan). Increasingly, people are looking toward the area that intersects medicine and technology to see if applications or devices can be developed to bridge the gap.

The results often are low-cost technologies that are easy to use but, in the reckoning, seldom used. The Indian medical industry, there are complaints, has always been slow to open its arms to technology unless it has been endorsed by the West, citing the likely impact on the life of people.

That, in essence, is why Invive Healthcare exists. Anshuman Chaudhary, and Kaustubh Chandrabhan, two IIT-Delhi graduates, saw the potential of the unexplored and yet pregnant-with-possibilities sector of medical technology early this year. Invive was the enterprise that followed, to aggregate medical technologies across the globe, evaluate it for applications, and packaging it for the Indian market. Another batchmate, Hiteshwar Jha, joined later in the year.

“We focus on commercialising in India the latest technologies and developments happening globally. We act as a bridge between innovators and healthcare providers in India by partnering with the technology providers and creating a market place for them through our sales and distribution channels,” explains Mr. Chaudhary.

“Commercialisation is the key in the medical devices segment since innovation which is not commercialised is essentially worthless.”

With a projected compound average growth rate of 20 per cent over the next five years, the $3 billion Indian medical device industry offers a rapid growth market for medical tech companies, he says.

Invive also saw that Indian manufacturers are primarily focused on medical supplies and disposables, and the technology intensive segments of the market are being catered to by foreign manufacturers, some of which have Indian subsidiaries. Imports form an estimated 50-60 per cent of the market by value, Mr. Chaudhary adds.

So far, Invive has been successful in marketing state-of-the-art devices in gastrointestinal diagnostics and is making headway with some eye-care products, he claims. Indeed, it has not been easy. “As far as doctors go, there is a barrier for the entry of technologies, primarily because of the impact on life. Technology has to enter through recommendations of key leaders in the field, top physicians, or surgeons will have to test and then introduce it to the community for it to be acceptable,” he says.

The ultimate aim is to take up franchisee manufacturing of these devices in the country to push prices down. Mr. Chaudhary adds: “In fact, we have already spoken to a couple of firms, incubated by the Stanford-India Biodesign programme to develop lowcost medical devices that are in the process of launching such devices.”

SSridhar · Post by **SSridhar** » 10 Oct 2011 09:24

Nothing to specifically do with this thread, but useful nevertheless.
Russian miracle dressing cures without drugs

Russian scientists have developed a drug-free method of healing wounds that may prove as revolutionary as the discovery of penicillin.

The miracle nano-dressing, VitaVallis, created by researchers in Tomsk, Siberia, helps clean up wounds of all known types of toxic bacteria. It does not get stuck to the wound and heals burns, cuts and any septic and infected wounds two to three times faster than traditional methods do. The dressing stops bleeding, ends inflammation, eliminates swellings and stimulates skin regeneration. It also helps kill pain and remove foul wound odour.

The most remarkable thing about VitaVallis is that it contains no antibiotics and is therefore effective against drug-resistant bacteria, the gnawing problem of clinical medicine.

“The traditional way of treating wounds is to apply antiseptic medicated bandaging to kill pathological microbes, whereas our dressing ‘sucks' microbes from the wound without administering any drugs,” said Dr. Marat Lerner, whose laboratory at the Tomsk Institute of Strength Physics and Materials Sciences developed the technology.

During hospital trials the new dressing cured a 4th-degree massive burn with ghastly-looking lesions at the back of a young man's head within 80 days, against 150 to 180 days normally required to heal such wounds.

The new method was developed at the junction of physics and medicine. It is based on the long-known fact that pathological bacteria typically carry a negative electric charge. Siberian researchers figured that positively charged material should be able to extract bacteria from wounds.

The secret of the VitaVallis antiseptic dressing is the positively charged nanosized alumina fibre which drags negatively charged microbes and lock them down in the absorbing layer.

“The method works with all types of pathological microorganisms and it does not matter whether they are resistant to antibiotics or not,” said Dr. Sergey Psakhye, Director of the Institute of Strength Physics of the Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. “There are no analogues of our method in the world.”

In the 21st century when more people die from sepsis infections than from strokes and heart attacks, the VitaVallis technology may prove just as ground breaking in saving lives and revolutionising healthcare as the discovery of penicillin was in the 20th century.

Aquelite, the company set up in Tomsk to commercialise the new technology, has recently launched the first production line and plans to expand the output from the current from million to 100 million nano-dressings next year. A 10x10 cm dressing sells in Russia for 120 roubles or about $4. Interestingly, the technology was first developed for innovative water filters that dramatically improve the efficiency and speed of cleaning biologically contaminated water. The creators of AquaVallis filters claim it is the world's first water system that guarantees 100-per-cent protection from viruses, bacteria and parasites and does not require any additional disinfection.

nithish · Post by **nithish** » 12 Oct 2011 02:54

Effective HIV Prevention Seen in India

An Indian initiative to prevent HIV infection in 6 of the country's states has been successful in preventing more than 100,000 infections during a 5-year period, according to an article published online October 11 in The Lancet Infectious Diseases.

The initiative, called Avahan, aims to slow the transmission of HIV in India's general population by providing increased preventive interventions in high-risk groups. Those groups include female sex workers and their clients, truck drivers, men who have sex with men, and injecting-drug users. The preventive measures include needle exchange, safe-sex counseling, treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, free condoms, and community mobilizations.

The article reported "substantial reductions" in HIV infections across all 6 states between 2003, when the initiative went into effect, and 2008. However, the success varied among states with high populations and more rural states. The state of Karnataka showed a 12.7% decline in HIV prevalence associated with Avahan, which was the biggest effect seen. Maharashtra showed the least effect, with a 2.4% decline associated with Avahan.

The 6 states in all had a total population of 300 million and were estimated to have the highest HIV prevalence in 2003. Reductions in HIV prevalence across all 6 states during the study period ranged from 16.6% (7.1% attributed to Avahan) in Andhra Pradesh to 51.4% (4.4% attributed to Avahan) in Tamil Nadu.

Klaus · Post by **Klaus** » 12 Oct 2011 09:33

Perhaps this is a good data point for the drug trade in the sub-continent and near-east: 3 months after a nationwide ban was introduced, synthetic cannabis still being sold in stores

The product is a mixture of plant materials sprayed with chemicals known as synthetic cannabinoids which produce a marijuana-like high but do not contain any THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol), the ingredient behind the drug's potency.

The Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration listed eight such synthetic chemicals as prohibited substances back in July — and individual states followed suit by creating laws to ban their sale and possession.

But forensic toxicologist Francois Oosthuize, from Perth-based research agency ChemCentre, said synthetic cannabis manufacturers could continue to produce modified strains as there were "in excess of 200 or 300" chemical compounds that could be used to substitute illegal synthetic cannabinoids.

ChemCentre is helping the WA government stay ahead of new strains by testing synthetic cannabis seized by police.

"You're always playing catch-up to try and get (new chemicals) legislated against or criminalised" Dr Oosthuize said.

The final comment summarises the dilemma of the law enforcement agencies worldwide.

Varoon Shekhar · Post by **Varoon Shekhar** » 12 Oct 2011 17:05

Hey, we haven't heard about outsourced medical transcription for a while. Is India still quite popular and strong in this area? India pretty much had things to itself as late as 2004-2005; is there now significant competition from other countries?

jagga · Post by **jagga** » 12 Oct 2011 23:46

India encephalitis outbreak kills 400, mainly children

So far 2,300 patients have been admitted to a hospital in the affected Gorakhpur area of Uttar Pradesh state.A doctor told the BBC that it was a "tragedy beyond imagination", with children dying every day.Nearly 6,000 children have died of encephalitis in the hospital since the first case was detected in 1978.