High-powered magnetron technology, developed in India by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Central Electronics Engineering Research Institute Pilani, will revolutionize cancer treatment and provide an impetus to India’s goal of becoming a medical device manufacturing hub, says GlobalData, leading data and analytics company.

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.

Ayshi Ganguly, Associate Analyst on the Medical Devices team at GlobalData, comments: “India’s medical devices market is estimated to be worth INR87.54 billion by 2030, according to GlobalData’s Medical Devices Intelligence Center. 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.”

The Technology Development Board (TDB) of India has agreed to provide financial support of INR48.7 million, out of the total project cost of INR97.3 million, for the development and commercialization of ‘S Band Tunable Magnetron for Particle Accelerators’ to Panacea Medical Technologies Pvt. Ltd. The Indian government also plans to export this device to many other nations across the globe in the future.

Ganguly adds: “This indicates the interest and commitment of the Indian government in reducing import dependency and becoming more self-sufficient. Domestic players of oncology device market such as Siemens and Philips** go hand in hand with Apollo, Manipal, Healthcare Global, Max Healthcare**, and foreign Medtech companies can utilize this opportunity to gain market share. This will enable the nation to provide accessible and affordable healthcare.”

*https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/india-healthcare-and-medical-equipment

**https://www.medtechintelligence.com/feature_article/indias-growing-cancer-market-offers-opportunities-to-device-companies/