In an attempt to create an ecosystem of innovation in healthcare, the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Science, Lucknow and IIT Kanpur have signed an MoU to set up a Centre of Excellence here. This agency will be the key progressor of developing indigenous solutions in the field of smart healthcare. It will function as a prominent building block of healthcare system areas, read reports.
Developing hybrid, robust & indigenous healthcare solutions
SGPGI Lucknow and IIT Kanpur signed an MoU on Tuesday to establish a Centre of Excellence in Telemedicine and Healthcare robotics, to develop an interdisciplinary healthcare system. This new space aims to strengthen the overall healthcare system field. Members of both institutes attended the MoU signing ceremony, including the pivotal authorities – Professor RK Dhiman, Director, SGPGI and Professor Abhay Karandikar, Director, IIT Kanpur.
Professor Abhay Karandikar stated that this step will converge the efforts of two leading institutions of the nation to develop a robust healthcare system, enveloping the scope of interdisciplinary innovation. The collaboration will amalgamate IIT Kanpur’s innovation and technology with SGPGI’s medical expertise and professionalism.
Under the norms of the MoU, IIT Kanpur and SGPGI Lucknow have decided to formulate an R&D setup to promote telemedicine aided by ICT and 5G and point-of-care testing and diagnostics. Besides, an integrated mesh of mobile health vans in rural areas, along with smart kiosks in urban areas will be installed to ensure last-mile connectivity and to ease the availability of emergency health services.
SGPGI Director, Professor RK Dhiman, stated that this joint venture will introduce courses in various fields of ‘Digital Health’, which will probably the first-of-its-kind in the nation. Here he also spoke about the importance and popularity of telemedicine technology with regards to the current pandemic situation and thus, emphasised the need to develop indigenous technology, platforms and systems to promote the same.
It will further encourage entrepreneurship and develop a rural health system, which will ensure the overall development of an expansive health system. This collab of the engineering and medicine streams will bank in a pool of hybrid healthcare systems, which is an essential step into the future.
