Bangalore team's invention gets FDA approval

A MEDICAL diagnostic device invented by a Bangalore research team has become the first such hi-tech Indian tool to win the US FDA approval for its clinical use in the US and certification from the EU. The device, called Haemotron, is non-invasive and uses 3D mapping technology or 3D cardiovascular cartography (3D-CCG) to measure the heart's functions and blood flow. The painless 3D-CCG technique takes barely 20 minutes and gives a comprehensive picture of the heart and any of its abnormalities in early stages, according to its inventors. The Haemotron, developed over six years and in use for two years, has been invented by Dr Rajah Vijaykumar, Chief Scientific Officer, and his biomedical engineering team at the Centre for Advanced Research & Development (CARD) in Bangalore. Costing around Rs 35 lakh, it is manufactured by Scalene Cybernetics in India and Austin Systems, Inc, US, and ASKIT kft in Europe. According to a panel of doctors at a press conference, the 3D CCG way costs Rs 3,500 each and can detect cardiovascular blocks very early at even 10 per cent of the blocks, compared to angiograms that are effective in cases with more than 40 per cent of blocks and are three to four times costlier. Prevention of heart attacks could begin five years earlier than with other tests.