Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology Thiruvananthapuram, an autonomous institution under the Department of Science and Technology (DST), has been cleared for the coveted ISO 170025 (a certification for medical devices) certification. A team of experts from the French National Agency that made a visit to the institution recently is known to have highly recommended for the certification, which would place the institute among the best medical device testing institutions in the world.

According to Dr V S Ramamurthy, secretary, DST, the inspection team was surprised to find the international quality of the institution and has immediately recommended for the certification. The official announcement of the recognition is to come within a month.

The certification has paved way for the institute to test, evaluate and certify the quality of foreign medical devices and equipment. The stamp of approval from the institute is to be recognized even in the developed world. Sree Chitra Institute is the only institution of its kind that has been cleared for such an approval in India.

The institute expects to boost its foreign exchange earnings through the recognition. For the multinational medical device manufacturing companies, recognition from the institute can happen at the fraction of the amount they are spending now to get the same from the institutions in the developed world.

Experts have also felt that the certification would boost the morale of Indian medical devices industry which needs a quality stamp to promote its products within the country and abroad.

The Institute has also announced its plans to set up the country's first National Test House for Biomaterials and Medical Devices at Thiruvananthapuram. The National Test House will aim at promoting indigenous biomedical engineering technology.

The Institute, a deemed university, considers promotion of biomedical engineering and technology as one of its major objectives and has been instrumental in many a technology transfer in the area during the last several decades. While the development of indigenous technology for the manufacture of blood bags, which was passed on to Peninsular Polymers for commercialization, continues to be its major success, the institution has come out with several high value devices in the past.

The institute has, again for the first time in India, finalized an MS programme in biomedical Technology.

The Institute is known for its high standards of patient care and the development of post graduate training programs of the highest quality in advanced medical specialties and in biomedical engineering and technology.

The Institute has a 233 bed specialty hospital, which serves as tertiary referral centre for all cardiovascular, thoracic and neurological diseases, a technology wing to conceive and develop new hospital based technologies and a centre of excellence for health science studies.