Calcutta, Aug. 12 : The integrated telemedicine and telehealth project launched in the state by the Asia Heart Foundation a year ago has grown to become the largest model of its kind in Asia. The 'e-health vision' of foundation chairman cardiac surgeon Devi Shetty and vice-chairman Alok Roy led to the birth of the project in Bankura and Siliguri. The six-bed telemedicine unit at B.S. Medical College in Bankura, set up by the foundation in collaboration with the state government, was inaugurated by health minister Suryakanta Mishra on July 21, 2001. A patient admitted to the hospital can now consult specialists at the Rabindranath Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences, Calcutta and Narayana Hrudayalaya, Bangalore. 'The journey of our telemedicine effort from its inception to the experience of having delivered care to more than 4,200 patients was a feeling beyond expression,' said Roy at the Tagore institute of cardiac sciences today. 'In a year, the project has evidence to share with the people of Bengal and the entire world - the good news of having delivered life-saving treatment to 206 in-patients. 'The continuing synergistic support from the government is what sustains the project, and the beneficiaries are the masses,' Roy said. After its initial successes in the state, the foundation took its telemedicine project to Udaipur in Tripura, Tinsukia in Assam, Chamarajanagar in Karnataka and other remote corners of the country. Shetty has himself checked more than 3,000 patients over the telemedicine network till date. The foundation has already taken its model to Malaysia, Mauritius, Nepal and Bangladesh. Several other Asian destinations feature in its expansion route. 'The foundation has the most active telemedicine network in Asia,' Roy said. The Indian Space research Organisation (Isro), which provides technical support to the network, is convinced the model is one for the future. 'Health is a major issue in rural areas and so we have developed the telemedicine concept using our satellite system. Five VSAT terminals have been set up for telemedicine in Bangalore, Calcutta, Tripura, Port Blair and Leh,' Isro chairman Krishnaswamy Kasturirangan said in a recent interview. High incidence of heart diseases among Indians due to a genetic predisposition makes it imperative to have a coronary care unit in every district hospital, said the foundation officials. 'Thirty per cent of those who suffer a heart attack can die if proper treatment is not offered in time. Our project in Bankura has addressed this issue effectively,' said Roy.