Siemens Healthineers has committed Rs 1,300 crore to establish a new campus in Bengaluru, combining its existing development centre and manufacturing operations. The development centre currently has a workforce of nearly 3,500 employees. “We take pride in employing over 1,000 women in technology roles in India, making up almost 30% of our engineering team. Our goal for the current fiscal year, is to add 700-900 new roles,” said  Peter Schardt, chief technology officer, Siemens Healthineers. In this interview, he speaks to Sudhir Chowdhary on how some of their healthcare innovations being developed out of India are shaping the future of medical technology. Excerpts:

How is Siemens Healthineers utilising AI & robotics?

We aim to make a real difference in addressing a significant global problem: the demand for provisional healthcare is increasing every day while healthcare professionals are becoming increasingly overwhelmed. AI and robotics are the key technologies to drive the level of automation, ultimately improving productivity.

In the future, a patient could go for a lung cancer screening using an automated machine or a nurse could simply transport the patient from the ward to the scanner, start the procedure, and bring them back. This is the level of AI we are envisioning.

Robots truly become robots when they become smart, can reason, and can make decisions. At Siemens Healthineers, this is where we are investing. Our annual R&D spend, totalling around €2 billion, is directed towards advancing such technologies across our entire portfolio.

You can only go so far in terms of precision based on what is seen in these images and the real breakthrough comes when you analyse the raw data from the systems. For example, our photon-counting CT generates raw data that is richer in information compared to what is ultimately archived in

the Picture Archiving and Communication System within the radiology department. If you apply AI directly to this raw data, you can get more precise results and enhance automation.

Any examples of how they improve patient outcomes?

Our AI contouring algorithm, used in oncology, plays a crucial role when a patient is diagnosed, and a decision is made to proceed with radiation therapy. It is essential to fully understand the patient’s anatomy, the organs, their sizes, and locations, to ensure precise dose delivery while sparing organs at risk. AI completely automates this process. Within seconds, the contours and segmentation are generated, significantly streamlining the workflow. Perhaps the biggest success in recent years has been our Deep Resolve algorithm. This technology significantly speeds up acquisition time by real factors, achieving 60-70% faster image reconstruction compared to our previous linear algorithms. With the same MRI system, our customers can now perform close to double the number of imaging studies, without additional capital investment in hardware.

Can these reduce the need for invasive procedures?

Robotics is now entering prime time in healthcare. AI is empowering robots to perform real, meaningful tasks. One key use case where we are actively engaged is in neurovascular diseases, particularly stroke. Robots can make a significant difference by enabling decentralised interventions. For example, an endovascular robot could be used for thrombectomy, allowing for quicker treatment. Many factors must be considered, including potential connectivity failures and other technical challenges that could arise. Addressing these complexities is essential to making this a safe and viable solution. The real benefit to patients would be a dramatic reduction in transportation time, thus faster clot removal, improving outcomes.

Tell us about the innovations developed out of India?

The development centre in Bengaluru is unique for Siemens Healthineers because every business is represented here —computed tomography, molecular imaging, magnetic resonance, ultrasound, diagnostics along with other functions. We have the MULTIX Impact E1 digital system – the X-ray system – which is designed for the Indian market. A normal MRI device requires close to 1,000 litres of helium, which is a scarce element. We have devised a technology with helium usage of less than 1 litre, it is a 0.55 Tesla system MRI and is well-suited for the Indian market. It eliminates maintenance cost, while reducing the total cost of ownership. We are working towards making Photon Counting CT affordable. We believe that in 5 to 10 years, there will be no city without this technology. There’s a lot of innovation coming in there, which might not be a new feature, but for us, it’s important that we make things affordable so that they can be applied and deployed everywhere in the world. Scaling the innovations is an additional capability you need as a large company.