Conceptualised and nurtured by renowned cardiac surgeon Padmasree Dr KM Cherian, a world class 126 bedded cardiac care hospital - the International Centre For Cardio Thoracic and Vascular Diseases, has taken off in Chennai.

The Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalitha inaugurated the Rs.25 crore super-specialty heart hospital at Mogappair in the city, which claims to introduce many new concepts and modern hospital infrastructure.

The hospital has porcelain operation theatres, the first of its kind in Asia. According to Dr Cherian, the floors, walls and ceilings of operation theatres are made of porcelain to reduce the chances of infection rate in the hospital, which normally range from one to three per cent in almost all the hospitals elsewhere. The operation theatres were designed to ensure dust free and zero bacteria environment, as no organism could grow on porcelain. The hospital has set up advanced technology biplane cardiac catheterisation laboratories, which helps to get four views of the same image with the administration of one shot of dye.

Dr Cherian, chairman and chief executive officer of Frontier Lifeline Pvt. Ltd. floated to set up and manage the hospital, said the hospital has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Kerala government for sourcing pig valves from slaughterhouses, besides a tie up with TICEL for technological know-how to develop tissue engineered valves.

The concept of using suitable sized pig valves with tissue engineering technology to replace human heart valves is a proven and accepted technology abroad, as the valves of the heart of pigs are almost similar to that of human beings, though different in size. Tissue engineering helps to tailor make pig valves for replacement of damaged valves of human beings, said Dr Cherian.

It is to be noted Dr KM Cherian, who was essentially associated with the Madras Medical Mission Hospital until recently, had started offering his services to the Apollo hospital group. Further, he offered his services to St Gregorios Hospital at Parumala near Thiruvalla, in Kerala and also helped set up a modern cardiac care unit at the Pushpagiri Medical College at Thiruvalla, both in his native place.