This will help patients with end-stage heart failure as they wait for a donor heart. According to government estimates, every year, some 50,000 patients in India need a heart transplant, but only about 200 such operations are done because of shortage of donor hearts.
The average wait time for a heart transplant is about 36 months. Also, an imported LVAD could cost anywhere between ₹70 lakh and ₹1 crore. Surgery and post-treatment care are added expenses.
Indigenously developed LVADs will lower the dependency on imported machines and the cost of heart transplant for such patients in India, a senior government official said, adding that it could also push up the numbers of those visiting India for medical treatment.
According to the official, talks are on to firm up funding.
“The research and testing of the project will need close to Rs 100 crore and a decision could soon be taken to fund this either through the department of science and technology or through Anusandhan National Research Foundation, set up in 2023,” the official said.
A 2024 Niti Aayog Mission Document on development and commercialisation of an indigenously developed ‘artificial human heart,’ submitted to the department of science and technology, suggests the setting up an overarching committee for guidance and timely completion of the project, with powers to approve proposals and monitor progress.
It has also proposed the setting up of a mission directorate to supervise the technical and financial aspects of the project.
Policy think tank Niti Aayog estimates it could take more than five years to develop the LVADs after the necessary approvals are in.
The report said IITs of Kanpur, Kharagpur and Delhi, as well as Sri Chitra Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology, are at various stages of developing low-cost LVADs and a ‘total artificial heart,’ which could provide life-saving treatment to individuals suffering from end-stage heart failure.
