TIME MACHINES MADE IN INDIA MRI'S
Diagnostic capability in India is set for a quantum leap in accessibility and affordability, with the manufacturing facility for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines at Visakhapatnam expecting to commence production July 2022 onwards. Commissioning of the plant is underway and expected to be completed by May 2022.
This is the first local MRI production facility in India and is intended to be 100% export-oriented in the first phase with a pipeline of 25 MRI orders already from the U.S., Europe, mid-east and Africa. Domestic supply shall start shortly after getting government and bureaucratic clearance.
Contrasting against ratio of 55 MRIS to1 million people in Japan; 38 MRIS per 1 million population in the U.S.; even Egypt has 2 MRIS per 1 million people; India only has 600 such diagnostic system for a population of 1.4 billion which is less than half a system per million of the population. One key reason for such a woeful inadequacy is that system promoted aggressively by international MR manufacturers are typically the higher magnetic strength (tesla) system from 1.5 to 3 tesla range that easily cost between 1-2 million USD. Manufacturers and their distributors tend to make the medical community believe that only high tesla closed system can meet their needs, overlooking that such system has complex components, require expensive helium gas and require high level support which adds significantly to maintenance cost.
In Japan, 70% of total MRIS used are of the lower strength, i.e. 0.35 tesla, which are far lower in cost, much cheaper to operate and adequate for up to 70% of patient’s scan needs. These open systems are stable, not affected by electricity interruptions and do not require helium to work. Such systems are widely used in developed country like Japan, showing its perfectly adequate for large range of diagnostic needs.
This facility in Visakhapatnam is setp by Time Medical Systems, a US & Singapore company, with founders from Harvard Medical and Columbia University. The India operations is headed by their General Manager,
Shankar Vardharajan. Besides being a leading player for 0.35 tesla MRIS, Time Medical Systems also developed world-first neo-natal MRI and dedicated high field systems for neural imaging and breast.
Ravindran Govindan
Behind this investment is Singaporean Ravindran Govindan, who has 45 years real-world expertise in building companies from the ground up. Ravi began by growing his own law practice into a multi-partnership firm; moved on to building properties across the Asia Pacific region, and then to being involved in the launches of several IPOS