Finally, A Made-In-India Heart Patch For Critical Cardiovascular Patients

Her grit to quit practice as a cardiovascular surgeon and take to research instead, at age 50, had Soma Guhathakurta joining the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras, for a PhD. She wished to develop a human-heart valve.

But on the suggestion of her adviser Venkatesh Balasubramanian, Head of Rehabilitation Bioengineering Group, she took up the task of developing a bio-material for valves. The result is India’s first tissue-engineered pericardial patch developed from the sack of a buffalo’s heart.

A decade after she earned her PhD for a dissertation on a bio-material derived from bovine pericardium, her efforts have resulted in the development of ‘SynkroScaff’, a bovine pericardial patch for critical cardiovascular patients. “Till this research, the patch was imported and was expensive. However, we ensured the patch is available at half the cost,” she said, as reported by Te Raja Simhan in the Hindu Business Line.

The patch, unlike other interventional measures, integrates with the human body and functions as its own tissue. It is said to be better than imported bio-materials, which are not just expensive as not easily available but also toxic owing to the processing and preservatives used.

“Our invention is India’s first import-substitute, biomedical device [application wise],” said Guhathakurta, who was also awarded the National Award for excellence in technology by President Pranab Mukherjee earlier this month.