IIT Delhi, IIIT Delhi sign MoU to set up India’s first medical cobotics centre

The Innovation Hub Foundation for Cobotics (IHFC), the Technology Innovation Hub (TIH) of the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) and iHub Anubhuti, the TIH of Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology Delhi (IIITD), signed an MoU on Wednesday to set up India’s first Medical Cobotics Centre (MCC) at IIIT-Delhi.

The MCC will be a technology enabled medical simulation and training facility for young resident doctors. It will also act as a validation centre for research outcomes in the area of healthcare robotics and digital health, and facilitate the training of other healthcare professionals, paramedical staff, technicians, engineers, and researchers, a release said.

The TIHs are funded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India under its National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS).

“The two hubs are committed to developing advanced technologies in the field of medical robotics/cobotics, digital health, sensing and computing technologies desired in robotic-assisted surgeries, training, and medical procedures,” it said.

The training programs will be designed in consultation with leading doctors/experts, mainly from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) at New Delhi, Jodhpur, and other prestigious medical colleges. They shall be empaneled as guest faculty for conducting the same.

“The training programs would be at multiple levels (basic/advanced) and cohort-specific like urology, neurology, laparoscopy, and others but initially limited to minimum invasive surgeries,” the release said.

It is planned to induct the first batch of trainees in April/May 2022 with some of the basic training simulators, which are widely available in the open market, whereas advanced surgical robots will be inducted in the next phase. The Centre will cater to the needs of medical colleges in Delhi-NCR region.

“We are happy to associate with IIITD for the joint Medical Cobotics Centre (MCC). In order to develop technologies for societal benefit, it’s important for researchers from across the institutions to come together and work in a focused manner,” said V Ramgopal Rao, Director, IIT Delhi.

“Cognitive and sensing technologies are essential for the next-generation robotics, particularly for applications in the medical domain and digital health. I am confident that this collaboration will create an impact in this space and move the needle,” Ranjan Bose, Director, IIIT Delhi said. Business Today