At the UCL Institute of Healthcare Engineering, we are proud of the extensive links we have fostered with other international institutions.
Over the past year, in collaboration with UCL Global Engagement Office, we have been growing our partnership with colleagues in India, in particular the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Delhi.
AIIMS
AIIMS is India's number one hospital for research. The hospital is almost a city in itself, seeing more than 50,000 daily footfall. The staggering diversity of cases combined with clinical excellence provide incredible potential for collaboration
IIT-Delhi
IIT-Delhi is renowned for its expertise in robotics, computer science, assistive technology, smart materials and biopharmaceuticals. There is a strong synergy between the healthcare engineering work being done at IIT-Delhi and UCL.
We awarded PhD projects to strengthen cross-continent collaboration
In 2020, we awarded two PhD studentships that are co-led by UCL and collaborators in AIIMS and IIT-Delhi. The projects address global health challenges around motor-neurone disease and diabetic foot ulcers. Both projects pull together interdisciplinary teams from engineering and clinical backgrounds to find solutions.
We had our plans to visit India scuppered by COVID-19
In March 2020, a delegation of UCL colleagues was due to visit New Delhi. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, these plans were put on hold. But we found other ways to stay connected.
We welcomed back students from AIIMS and IIT-Delhi, India for CMIC summer school
In July 2020, we were delighted to continue our collaboration with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi and the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi by hosting 16 students through a virtual summer school in medical imaging, with support from the Global Engagement Office.
The Summer School is an annual course hosted by UCL Centre for Medical Image Computing (CMIC) which was held virtually this year between 6-10 July.
Last year, five students from AIIMS visited UCL to take part. The school allowed these young scientists to engage with experts at UCL in a diverse range of image computing topics, fostering new links of collaboration, critical thinking and scientific discovery. Their visit also coincided with UCL Institute of Healthcare Engineering’s Global Healthcare Engineering Symposium.
Two of last year’s students, Amol Sood and Ashank Khaitan (pictured) said, "As clinicians, we are not frequently exposed to the engineering process that goes behind developing the technology that we often use in the clinics. So, it was an enriching experience to listen to the talks by pioneers in the field of medical image computing, and to interact with such an array of engineers and physicists".
UCL supported UK-Indian collaborative projects with seed funding
In May 2020, the UCL Global Engagement Office (GEO) announced the results of two UK-Indian funding calls. The Strategic Partnership Funds foster collaborative projects between UCL and IIT-Delhi (Indian Institute of Technology), and UCL and AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences).
Across both funding calls, eight projects were awarded funding £10,000 each – with 50% going to each univeristy. Research proposal had to be in areas that are of mutual interest and strength for the involved universities.
We were delighted to see strong health and healthcare engineering representation across the successful projects, including:Computational modelling of cerebral blood flow in Moya Moya disease
Computational modelling of cerebral blood flow in Moya Moya disease
Moya Moya disease (MMD) is a rare progressive disorder which reduces blood flow to the brain. The body can create a tangle of tiny blood vessels at the base of the brain in order to compensate for this blockage. Surgical methods can help stabilise and restore blood flow for patients, but this can be difficult to plan as each patient can be very different. This project aims to use mathematics and computer modelling to simulate different scenarios before operating.
Development and pilot testing of smartphone-based app for non-invasive detection of anaemia in pregnant women
Anaemia disproportionately affects pregnant women and increases the risk of stillbirth, miscarriage and diseases later in life. Much of this is preventable with early diagnosis and intervention. The best current detection method is a blood test, but this can be difficult to perform in low-resource settings. This project aims to create a non-invasive, low cost method to detect maternal anaemia using smartphone technology.
Refreshable tactile drawing
For people with visual impairment, it can be challenging to interpret graphics and symbols. In low-resource settings parchment and braille can be impractical due their cost and lack of reusability. This team are developing a refreshable device that will allow users to draw tactile diagrams.
To determine the clinical and neuroimaging characteristics and outcomes of febrile infection-related epilepsy syndrome (FIRES) in children
FIRES is a severe form of epilepsy that affects children, causing seizure clusters that can last for days to weeks and don't respond to treatment. The condition has a high mortality rate and can cause lifelong impairment in surviving children. Currently there is limited understanding of the cause and progression of FIRES. This project aims to collect data on the characteristics and outcomes of patients in the UK and India to help understand the causes and resulting brain damage.
A study to determine the prognosis of patients with cardiac involvement with sarcoid: development of diagnostic and treatment algorithms
Cardiac sarcoidosis is an inflammatory condition that can a range of potentially fatal heart events. The condition is currently under-diagnosed and we have limited about how to best manage the condition. This project hopes to draw on cardiac expertise at UCL and AIIMS to generate new insights into the disease and potential treatments.
We held a joint webinar series with IIT-D
In September 2020, leading researchers from UCL and IIT-D shared their research with viewers from across the world, with the aim of sparking future collaboration opportunities.
Over four sessions, we heard a wide range of presentations – from biodegradable face masks through to refreshable tactile drawing for people with low vision. The final session was held in partnership with the Global Disability Innovation Hub, a UCL-led centre which works to develop a fairer world through assistive technology.
The digital format meant we were able to bring colleagues together in the same space without international airfares! We were also joined by more than 200 audience members from all over the world, including the USA, Turkey, China and Rwanda.
The feedback from attendees was overwhelmingly positive, with 98% of survey respondents saying they learnt something new, and almost 60% wanted to connect to speakers they'd heard from.
The next steps will involve bringing together the ideas generated during the sessions, and connecting collaborators.
"Over the last week, we've been nurturing collaboration, co-operation and collective action"
– Professor Monica Lakhanpaul, UCL Pro-Vice Provost (South Asia)
"This webinar series may culminate into more research projects because now we have a common platform to discuss the challenges"
– Professor Sunil Khare, Dean (Research & Development) IIT Delhi
"Insightful. I got to know about the interdisciplinary partnership between the two institutions that will benefit the students and community at large in the future"
– feedback from an attendee
UCL and AIIMS/IIT Delhi Strategic Partner Funds
UCL is teaming up with AIIMS and IIT Delhi in two separate funding calls.
UCL and each Indian institution are contributing matching funds to support collaborative education and research initiatives, through a joint call for proposals for the development of collaborative activities that will lead to impactful research outcomes. For each funding call, up to four successful proposals will receive up to £10,000.
Proposals must be in areas of mutual interest and complementary strengths, and include participants from both institutions.
UCL and IIT Delhi deadline: 13 November 2020, 4PM BST / 9.30PM IST
UCL and AIIMS deadline: 20 November 2020, 4PM BST / 9.30PM IST
Get in touch
If you are a UCL researcher in healthcare engineering or digital health with an interest in collaborating with Indian colleagues, please contact our Research & Development Manager, Marilyn Aviles for a chat (marilyn.aviles@ucl.ac.uk).
If you are a researcher at AIIMS or IIT-Delhi and you are interested in collaborating with UCL colleagues, please contact Senior Partnership Manager, Dr Amit Khandelwal (amit.khandelwal@ucl.ac.uk)
Credits:
Created with images by Marco Taliani - "Crowd of people during sunset with government buildings in the background, New Delhi, India" • Matyas Rehak - "DELHI, INDIA - OCTOBER 22, 2016: Aerial view of Old Delhi, India." • Noel Broda - "untitled image" • shoenberg3 - " Asian Scientist Pipetting at a Biomedical Laboratory "