Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: In a significant step to advance mental health research, the National Institute of Mental Health and NeuroSciences (NIMHANS) in Bengaluru has unveiled the world’s largest archival patient records digitising health data dating from the 1890s. The NIMHANS Archiving Digital Initiative (NADI), with more than 37,000 patient records, was consecrated at the institute’s Heritage Museum by Director Prof. Pratima Murthy, early this week.
NADI offers “a rare glimpse into over a century of mental health and neuroscience history at our institution,” NIMHANS shared in a post on social media platform X. “This monumental collection, comprising over 37,000 patient files, represents one of the largest historical archives in mental health and neurosciences globally,” it added.
Calling the records of conditions ranging from schizophrenia to epilepsy to tumours “invaluable”, NIMHANS said that they “span from the 1890s, during the era of the Mysore Lunatic Asylum through the period of All-India Institute of Mental Health (AIIMH), established in 1954. NIMHANS was established in 1974 by merging the Mental Hospital, established by the Government of Mysore, and the AIIMH, established by the Government of India.
The records have been meticulously categorised and catalogued using KOHA software — a free and open-source Integrated Library System — to facilitate access for students and researchers. “The diagnostic categories represented are notably diverse ranging from psychiatric conditions (e.g., schizophrenia, depression) to neurological disorders (e.g., epilepsy, dementia), and neurosurgical cases (e.g., head injuries, tumours),” NIMHANS said.
