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Bridging the Gap Between Engineering and Modern Healthcare



I thank the engineering export promotion council of India for organising a roadshow for the upcoming Pharma Tech expo in Sep 2026. I would also like to thank the I-hub foundation for cobotics at IIT Delhi for organising an online discussion on the evolution of healthcare with development of  tooling and technology across successive industrial revolutions. 

The two events presented a unique opportunity for me to attempt to apply myself in the field of medicine which needless to say is extremely challenging considering that this sector is highly regulated and requires specialisation. But after listening to the experts in the field I was convinced that the industry is moving towards automation and some of the biggest challenges being faced by India and other developing states in Africa are access to machines and instruments that can help provide healthcare to people. 

A concern that many of the leaders in the field shared is that while India has done reasonably well in the generic medicine and vaccine segment it still lacks access to machinery that can enable manufacturing of these vaccines and medicines and has to rely on imports.  

The healthcare sector depends on precision manufacturing of instruments. Steel,polymers and glass dominate materially. Additive manufacturing is gaining traction but traditional CNC machining, laser cutting and even injection molding still find widespread use. 

Additionally some of the more complicated diagnostic tools like MRI depend upon powerful magnets and cryocooling. Then there are X-ray machines and semiconductors,packaging technologies,sterilisation and cleanroom technologies. This is the net result of more than a century of continuous innovation in machines and tools which provide the foundation for modern healthcare to exist. 
It's difficult for developing nations to catch up yet it is essential that they do. But where do they start? Opinions are divided. The traditional way would be via trade agreements ,transfer of technology,reverse engineering ,joint research and all of these avenues are being actively explored. The other way would be to innovate in house and develop technologies that could be applied locally. This has potential in the long term but in the short term the policy makers will be compelled to opt for more realistic pathways where risk is minimal and results are guaranteed. 

Innovation hardly ever stops. Therefore it might be prudent to invest in research of technologies that may not have application in the present but could prove to be revolutionary in the future. Several such promising areas exist. Ionised plasma has proven itself to be highly useful in wound healing and even in treatment for some forms of cancer [1-2] . Plasma activated water improves upon the cold plasma technology by delivering reactive oxygen species directly inside the body [3]. These could prove to be low cost alternatives to more expensive treatments if proven successful. Composites microporous materials that resemble bone structurally could work as the next generation of implants if successful clinically[4-5]. 
CMUT (Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers) could make for cheaper ultrasonics that reduce diagnostic costs [6]. 

The real challenge is not that new technologies can not be developed but rather that those who work on the cutting edge of engineering are unaware of the applications in the medical field and those working in the medical industry are not aware about latest advancements in materials and manufacturing. Many of the technologies that the medical industry uses have applications in other fields too. Plasma is widely used in semiconductors and nanotechnology sectors. Membranes are big in the desalination and water purification sector. Ultrasonics are finding applications in microscopy and non destructive materials testing. 

For healthcare in particular things are more complicated because the industry is highly regulated and risk averse,rightly so because in many cases it's the patient's life that is on the line. 

Therefore cross industry collaboration is paramount. Engineers and researchers on both sides — medicine and engineering must be willing to invest time in learning about the goals and motivations of their counterparts. Only then can novel solutions and breakthroughs emerge. 

REFERENCES 

1 Medical gas plasma technology: Roadmap on cancer treatment and immunotherapy
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213231723001994

2 The Role of Cold Atmospheric Plasma in Wound Healing Processes in Critically Ill Patients
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10219374/
3 Plasma Activated Water for Plasma Medicine
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8596950
4 Biological properties of carbon/carbon implant composites with unique manufacturing processes
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10856-009-3812-3

5 The response of bone to carbon-carbon composites
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0142961284900012

6 Advances and Challenges of Capacitive Micromachined Ultrasonic Transducers in Medical Imaging
https://www.mdpi.com/2072-666X/17/4/486

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We aim to promote international harmony through creation of specific councils and bodies for regulating and overseeing international issues and accelerate developments in nanotechnology, material science ,electrostatics, fluids, plasma science,thermodynamics and advanced manufacturing.

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Akshat Jiwan Sharma

Materials science/International relations/Partnerships 

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