Kharagpur (WB): The Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur on Friday announced the introduction of a four-year BTech programme in Biomedical Engineering, with admissions to be conducted through JEE Advanced.

The inaugural batch is expected to comprise around 25 students, an institute spokesperson said.

The undergraduate course will be offered by the School of Medical Science and Technology (SMST), which is set to be upgraded into a full-fledged department. At present, the school runs postgraduate programmes in areas such as medical informatics.

According to the institute, biomedical engineering has emerged globally as a key driver of innovation, contributing to advancements in imaging systems, surgical technologies, prosthetics, diagnostics and digital healthcare platforms.

Students enrolled in the programme will work closely with the BC Roy Institute of Medical Sciences, located on the IIT campus.

IIT Kharagpur Director Suman Chakraborty said the teaching model would operate as a “living laboratory”, enabling students to engage with academic, industrial and hospital environments from an early stage.

He said the framework would generate real-world datasets for training and support simulation-based learning modules, including surgical practice and disease modelling. Faculty members from the medical sciences institute will handle clinical fundamentals, while the on-campus super-speciality hospital will offer continuous practical exposure.

Chakraborty noted that many biomedical engineering programmes in the country remain largely classroom-oriented with limited clinical integration. The new initiative aims to foster deeper collaboration between engineering and medicine in both education and innovation, he added.