For a patient undergoing emergency treatment for a blocked artery or stroke, speed and precision can make all the difference. In the catheterisation lab, an angiography system gives doctors a real-time view of blood vessels, helping them perform minimally invasive procedures with greater accuracy. Until recently, systems of this complexity almost always arrived in India as imports.
That is beginning to change. Siemens Healthineers has started manufacturing its ARTIS one Edition X angiography platform in Bengaluru, marking another step in India’s emergence as a manufacturing base for advanced medical technology rather than just a market for it.
From C-arm to angiography
The move builds on an earlier milestone. The Cios Fit mobile C-arm, used during orthopaedic, trauma and pain-management procedures, was designed, developed and manufactured in Bengaluru before being exported to more than 75 countries.
Taken together, the two products tell a larger story. While Cios Fit demonstrated that India could engineer and manufacture sophisticated imaging systems, ARTIS one Edition X raises the bar. Angiography platforms rank among the most advanced imaging systems used in hospitals, combining precision hardware, complex software and stringent quality standards. Producing one locally signals that the country is moving up the medical technology value chain.
Hariharan Subramanian, managing director, Siemens Healthcare, says India has evolved from a growth market into a strategic hub for innovation and advanced medical technology manufacturing. Bengaluru now houses Siemens Healthineers’ largest global R&D centre, where more than 3,500 engineers work across imaging, diagnostics, artificial intelligence, digital health and cybersecurity.
“India contributes across virtually every major innovation programme at Siemens Healthineers,” says Subramanian. The company’s manufacturing footprint has expanded steadily to include CT scanners, MRI systems, Cios Fit mobile C-arms and now the ARTIS one Edition X, alongside molecular diagnostic solutions. It is also investing around €200 million in a new Bengaluru campus that will bring together research, manufacturing, innovation and its India headquarters.
Manufacturing is only one part of the strategy. Siemens Healthineers has also adapted imaging technologies to expand access to advanced diagnostics beyond major cities. Its hub-and-spoke model enables specialists in metro hospitals to support diagnostic centres in smaller towns, while its DryCool MRI technology reduces liquid helium requirements from about 1,500 litres to less than one litre, lowering installation and infrastructure costs. At AIIMS Ballabgarh, the company has also deployed a container-based MRI unit, demonstrating how advanced imaging can reach locations where conventional installations are difficult.
Engineering for healthcare
Those capabilities are becoming increasingly important as cardiovascular disease, cancer and neurological disorders place greater pressure on healthcare systems. Earlier diagnosis and image-guided treatment are expected to play a growing role in improving patient outcomes.
For Siemens Healthineers, manufacturing the ARTIS one Edition X is less about adding another product to its portfolio than building on capabilities developed over several years. “Products like Cios Fit demonstrated that India has the engineering and manufacturing maturity required for advanced imaging technologies,” says Subramanian.
The bigger shift is what this says about the country’s role in global medtech. Engineering, research and manufacturing are increasingly coming together in one location, allowing products to be designed, developed and built closer to growth markets. With advanced imaging systems now joining that portfolio, Bengaluru is evolving from an R&D centre into a production base for some of Siemens Healthineers’ most sophisticated medical technologies.