S. T. Narasimhan (19131959) was an Indian

electrophysiologist Electrophysiology (from Greek , ''ēlektron'', "amber" etymology of "electron"">Electron#Etymology">etymology of "electron" , ''physis'', "nature, origin"; and , ''-logia'') is the branch of physiology that studies the electrical properties of bi ...

. He started the first Electroencephalography (EEG) laboratory in India at Madras (now

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

) in 1950. He was best known for collaborative works with neurologists Jacob Chandy,

Balasubramaniam Ramamurthi Ramamurthi Balasubramaniam (30 January 1922 – 13 December 2003) was an Indian neurosurgeon, author, editor, a pioneer in neurosurgery in India and often recognized as the Father of Neurosurgery of India. He set up the Department of Neurosurgery ...

and

Baldev Singh Baldev Singh ( pa, ਬਲਦੇਵ ਸਿੰਘ, hi, बलदेव सिंह) (11 July 1902 – 29 June 1961) was an Indian Sikh political leader, he was an Indian independence movement leader and the first Defence Minister of India. Mor ...

and together they have been credited to be pioneers in development of

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epileptic seizures can vary from brief and nearly undetectable periods to long periods of vigorous shaking due to abnormal electrica ...

surgery in India. They also helped in establishing the

Neurological Society of India The Neurological Society of India (NSI) is the apex body representing neuroscientists of the country. It was founded in 1951 by Jacob Chandy, Balasubramaniam Ramamurthi, S. T. Narasimhan, and Baldev Singh, who together have been credited to be ...

in 1951 at Madras.

Life

Not much is known about the life of Narasimhan; but Balasubramaniam Ramamurthi's biography ''Uphill All The Way'' gives some details. Narasimhan was born in 1913, and around 1945 he sold his medical practice in India so he could go to the United States of America to further his studies. He was a General Surgeon and at the

Neurological Institute of New York The Neurological Institute of New York, is an American hospital research center located at 710 West 168th Street at the corner of Fort Washington Avenue in the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital / Columbia University Medical Center in the Washington ...

he trained in neurology and neurosurgery. He returned to India in 1948 and started his private practice setting up a neurosurgical nursing home and EEG laboratory and stayed in the residential areas of

Kilpauk Kilpauk is a semi residential area located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. The distance from Chennai's city to Kilpauk is about 6 km. The region is situated off the Poonamallee High Road in the west. Adjacent areas of Kilpauk include Chetpe ...

. Dr. Balasubramaniam had set up the Department of Neurosurgery at the

Government General Hospital, Chennai Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital is a major state-owned hospital situated in Chennai, India. The hospital is funded and managed by the state government of Tamil Nadu. Founded in 1664 by the British East India Company, it is the first moder ...

in 1950 and Narasimhan joined him as an honorary assistant surgeon. During the pioneering days, X-rays and EEG were used in diagnosis as angiography was not yet available in India. During the neurosurgical procedures that Balasubramaniam under took, Narasimhan assisted him in EEG service and in later patient care. Narasimhan earned around for each procedure from the then

Government of Madras A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

. In 1951, Singh, Chandy, Ramamurthi and Narasimhan established the Neurological Society of India and together find credit as pioneers of epilepsy surgery in India. In 1959, Narasimhan became the Honorary Professor of Electroencephalography. The same year, he died at an early age of 46 at

Bangalore Bangalore (), List of renamed places in India, officially Bengaluru (), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan area, metropolitan population of a ...

of unknown reasons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Narasimhan, S. T. 1913 births 1959 deaths Electrophysiologists Medical doctors from Chennai Indian neurosurgeons 20th-century Indian medical doctors 20th-century surgeons