New Delhi, June 4 (IANS): Global medical equipment manufacturer Medtronic will soon launch a portable haemodialysis machine, which will facilitate patients suffering due to the lack of dialysis centres in the country.

The machine is also expected to reduce water consumption during haemodialysis sessions in comparison to the existing machines.

"Currently the machine is being developed at the organisation's Bengaluru-based research and development set-up. This new portable haemodialysis machine will cater to the need of the region. This will be a boon for the people," Milind Shah, managing director, India Medtronic, told IANS.

Recent studies stated that India imports roughly 70 percent of its medical devices from medically advanced countries such as the USA, the UK, Japan and China.

Shah, who is also the vice president for Medtronics South Asian region, said that Medtronics has also launched a product named Carelink, a bedside setup that allows the physician to remotely monitor an implant device in a secure mode via Internet. Through the device the patient is in contact with his physician 24/7 and information of any irregularity is sent to the doctor immediately.

Citing that the focus of Medtronic was to develop healthcare in India, he said people here were not aware of new medical technologies or even if they knew they intentionally didn't want to access the technology considering it full of risk.

Shah said that affordability and accessibility to proper health care facilities is still a significant challenge in India.

"Rural India is often marginalised in terms of the availability of advanced medical facilities. Hence, there has been a significant increase in the number of patients suffering from cardiovascular diseases and end stage renal diseases in the rural areas," he said.