Making heart-lung machines work in India: Imports, indigenous innovation and the challenge of replicating cardiac surgery in Bombay, 1952-1962

David S. Jones, Kavita Sivaramakrishnan · 2018 · Social Studies of Science

Summary. Two Bombay surgeons successfully performed open-heart surgery using heart-lung machines in 1962, despite India's restrictions on foreign imports and currency exchange. Kersi Dastur leveraged local Parsi manufacturing networks while PK Sen used Rockefeller Foundation connections to access international training and equipment. Both faced steep learning curves adapting imported technology to local conditions. Their success required substantial resources and reflected nationalist politics valuing indigenous innovation alongside imported technology.

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Jones, D. S., & Sivaramakrishnan, K.. (2018). Making heart-lung machines work in India: Imports, indigenous innovation and the challenge of replicating cardiac surgery in Bombay, 1952-1962. Social Studies of Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306312718794034

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  title   = {Making heart-lung machines work in India: Imports, indigenous innovation and the challenge of replicating cardiac surgery in Bombay, 1952-1962},
  author  = {David S. Jones and Kavita Sivaramakrishnan},
  journal = {Social Studies of Science},
  year    = {2018},
  doi     = {10.1177/0306312718794034},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1177/0306312718794034}
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Details

DOI: 10.1177/0306312718794034
Countries: India, United States
Regions: Asia, North America
Categories: innovation-networks, regional-innovation-systems
Added: 2026-04-28