In 1973 Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma, the last Maharajah of Travancore, gifted a multi-storied building to the Government of Kerala. In 1976 P. N. Haskar, the then Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission, inaugurated the Sree Chitra Tirunal Medical Center. This was followed by a biomedical technology wing, established at the Satelmond Palace, Poojapura, nearly 11 km away, a grab from Sethu Lakshmi Bayi, the aunt of Balarama Varma. The institute was declared an Institute of National Importance by an Act of Parliament in 1980, and renamed to its current name. The third wing of the institute, Achutha Menon Center for Health Science Studies, was established in 2000. The institute is headed by Prof Asha Kishore, an acclaimed neurologist and movement disorder specialist. Former directors of the institute were M. S. Valiathan, K. Mohandas and K. Radhakrishnan.
Named after former Chief Minister of Kerala, C. Achutha Menon, AMCHSS was developed in 1990s with the aim to conduct researches and to educate researchers to reduce health inequity. AMCHSS is the academic division of Institute and research for various disciplines related to health are operated. Courses of MPH, DPH, and PhD in health sciences is offered from the center. Having distinguished Doctors, epidemiologists, anthropologists, Policy Makers, Health Economists, and health activists, the center aims to provide world-class education and to fill the information gaps by researches. It is unofficially Government's right hand to develop health infrastructure and to generate researches to reduce social inequity.
Biomedical Technology Wing
The Biomedical Technology Wing has played a pioneering role in the establishment of a medical device industry base in India by successfully developing and transferring technologies for diverse medical products such as disposable blood bag system, mechanical heart valve prosthesis, blood oxygenators, ophthalmic sponge, concentric needle electrode, hydroxyapatite based biocermaic porous granules with many more in the pipeline with industrial collaboration. It has also been the only institute in India to have developed an artificial heart valve that is currently manufactured and marketed by TTK. The institute holds international patents for devices and processes and holds the record for maximum number of patents in Kerala. The Biomedical Technology Wing has implemented a quality system to meet the requirements of international standard ISO/IEC 17025. About 20 of these tests are accredited by the Comité français d'accréditation of France.
Hospital Wing
The hospital has the following departments:
Department of Cardiology
Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery
Department of Anaesthesiology
- Cardiothoracic and vascular anaesthesiology - Neuroanaesthesiology
Department of Imaging Sciences and Interventional Radiology
SCTIMST has a 253-bed hospital for tertiary care of cardiovascular and neurological diseases. It conducts clinics in cardiology, cardiovascular and thoracic, neurology, neurosurgery and radiology for the public. The institute has pioneered some advanced neurological therapies in India, like Epilepsy surgery and Deep Brain Stimulation. In the past 15 years, the institute has done nearly 1,220 epilepsy surgeries – the highest number by any hospital in Asia.
