The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi has announced it will install the country's first indigenously-developed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine in October.

It will be done in partnership with the Society for Applied Microwave Electronic Engineering and Research (SAMEER).

It is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

PH Rao, director general, SAMEER, told Business Standard that the organisation was waiting for permission for clinical and human trials as the country currently does not have a mechanism where the machine can be validated for the standards within the country.

A senior official from AIIMS New Delhi told the newspaper that the 1.5 tesla MRI machine is expected to be installed in another seven months, or by October this year. 

India's 80 to 85 percent medical device requirements are currently met via imports at present.

“The partnership aims to reduce treatment costs and reliance on imported medical devices,” an AIIMS official told Business Standard.