IIT Delhi, iHub Anubhuti inaugurate ‘Medical Cobotics Centre’ to boost innovation in healthcare

NEW DELHI: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi, technology innovation Hub with iHub Anubhuti-IIITD foundation have inaugurated their joint medical facility, ‘MCC-Medical Cobotics Centre’ on the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) Delhi campus today.

Akhilesh Gupta, secretary, science and engineering research board (SERB) and senior advisor, department of science and technology (DST), government of India, was the chief guest at the event.

According to the institute, the DST has funded this joint facility to be operated by iHub Anubhuti and IHFC under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NMICPS) mission. The Medical Cobotics Centre is India’s first state-of-the-art technology-enabled medical simulation and training facility for doctors, paramedics, technicians, engineers, biomedical researchers, and entrepreneurs as per IIT Delhi.

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The centre will offer hands-on simulation training to the medical fraternity across the country. The training programmes being offered at the centre will range from basic to advanced and will be designed in consultation with doctors and experts, mainly from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).

As per the institute, the centre aims to have cutting-edge technologies for advanced medical research in the areas of healthcare robotics and digital healthcare. The Centre will support start-ups in the medical field that are using AR, VR, AI, cobotics, robotics, cognitive sciences, etc.

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The medical cobotics centre has launched a proposal for young start-ups, with funding up to Rs 1 crore available in digital healthcare and medical healthcare.

Akhilesh Gupta, secretary, SERB and senior advisor, DST, said," This inauguration marks a unique convergence of engineers and doctors, symbolising the deep collaboration within this MCC and the importance of simulation in testing various medical technologies. In general, most people believe that doctors have unlimited abilities. However, it is important to understand that doctors are also humans who rely on technology to deliver effective treatments.”

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“IIT Delhi is delighted to announce the opening of the Medical Cobotics Centre. Healthcare and engineering combine to provide the next frontier. We believe the medical simulator will add to our existing initiatives on medical devices like mPRAGATI to create an innovative ecosystem to provide modern healthcare and create partnerships between IIT Delhi, IIIT, AIIMS and other hospitals. We look forward to our Innovation Hub in Cobotics creating new cobotics based interventions and innovations for affordable healthcare”, said Rangan Banerjee, director, IIT Delhi.