Harnessing magnetron tech can turn India into medtech manufacturing hub

India currently imports 80% of its medical devices.

India could become a domestic medical devices manufacturing hub if it leverages on its development of magnetron technology, according to a report from GlobalData.

This followed reports about the high-powered magnetron technology being developed by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute Pilani, which could revolutionise cancer care.

"Magnetrons consist of a basic diode vacuum tube with built-in cavity resonators and an incredibly strong magnet. Magnetron involves the usage of microwave radiation to generate localised dielectric heating to desiccate human tissue. This process of microwave ablation can eliminate affected tissue tumour and it benefits cancer patients by being flexible and minimally invasive," GlobalData defined. 

Magnetron tech in the country is getting further support from the Technology Development Board of India, which provided INR48.7m financial aid to develop and commercialise ‘S Band Tunable Magnetron for Particle Accelerators’ to Panacea Medical Technologies Pvt. Ltd. Once completed, the government plans to export this device globally. 

"India’s medical devices market is estimated to be worth INR87.54 billion by 2030... The country imports approximately 80% of its medical devices, mainly for cancer diagnostics. However, with the development of magnetron technology by an India-based company, the country’s dependency on imports will be reduced—not only in the healthcare sector but across other industries, as magnetron is used in many devices ranging from linear accelerators to industrial heating equipment and radar systems," said GlobalData medical devices team associate analyst Ayshi Ganguly.