. The institute is a statutory body under Ministry of Science and Technology and is under the Administrative Control of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. SCTIMST is one of the most prominent research Institutes and centers in India.
History
In 1973
Institute of National Importance by an Act of Parliament in 1980, and renamed to its current name.[3] The third wing of the institute, Achutha Menon Center for Health Science Studies (AMCHSS), was established in 2000.[4] The institute is currently headed by Dr Sanjay Behari, prominent neurosurgeon. Former directors of the institute were M. S. Valiathan (1979-1994), K. Mohandas (1994-2009) and K. Radhakrishnan (2009-2013), Dr Asha Kishore (2015-2020).[5]
. The official emblem of the institute honours the symbol of the royal family of Travancore, the Shankh of Sree Padmanabhaswamy.
Divisions
Tertiary Care Hospital (about 250 beds) headed by Dr. Rupa Sreedhar
Biomedical Technology Wing
(with state of technology development facilities) headed by Dr. Harikrishna Varma P. R.
Named after former chief minister of Kerala C. Achutha Menon, AMCHSS was developed in 1990s with the aim to conduct researches and to educate researchers to reduce health inequity. AMCHSS is the academic division of the institute and conducts research for various disciplines related to health. The center offers MPH, DPH, and PhD courses in health sciences.
Biomedical Technology Wing
The
heart valve prosthesis, blood oxygenators, ophthalmic sponge, concentric needle electrode, hydroxyapatite based biocermaic porous granules with many more in the pipeline with industrial collaboration. It has also been the only institute in India to have developed an artificial heart valve
that is currently manufactured and marketed by TTK.
The institute holds international
patents for devices and processes and holds the record for maximum number of patents in Kerala.[6]
The Biomedical Technology Wing has implemented a quality system to meet the requirements of international standard ISO/IEC 17025. About 20 of these tests are accredited by the Comité français d'accréditation (Cofrac) of France.
Hospital Wing
The hospital has the following departments:
Department of Cardiology
Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery
Department of Anaesthesiology
Cardiothoracic and vascular anaesthesiology
Neuroanaesthesiology
Department of Imaging Sciences and Interventional Radiology
Department of Neurology
Department of Neurosurgery
Division of Clinical Engineering
Division of Microbiology
Department of Pathology
Division of Biochemistry
Department of Transfusion Medicine
Division of Cellular and Molecular Cardiology
Division of Tissue Engineering
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation department
Patient care
SCTIMST has a 253-bed hospital for tertiary care of
neurological diseases. It conducts clinics in cardiology, cardiovascular and thoracic, neurology, neurosurgery, radiology, physical medicine and rehabilitation for the public. The institute has pioneered some advanced neurological therapies in India, like Epilepsy surgery and Deep Brain Stimulation. In the past 15 years, the institute has done nearly 1,220 epilepsy surgeries – the highest number by any hospital in Asia.[7]
Academic offerings
The institute has the status of a university and offers postdoctoral, doctoral and postgraduate courses in medical specialties, public health, nursing, physiotherapy, basic sciences and health care technology. It is a member of the Association of Indian Universities and the Association of Commonwealth Universities.