Several Indian medical devices manufacturers and indigenous automation companies are coming up with innovative designs of medical devices to combat the Covid19-induced crisis.
For instance, Ayu Devices incubated at Society for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SINE), IIT Bombay has developed the digital stethoscope that can help doctors listen to heart and lungs sounds while keeping at a safe distance from the patients.
The device identifies abnormal sounds and helps diagnose patients. It is designed as a wireless module to enhance the bluetooth range and help it to be controlled from a distance. While existing digital stethoscope uses smartphone bluetooth, their device works with an additional bluetooth module to increase the range and consistency in the data.
They are further scaling up the manufacturing to cater to the increasing need and have successfully commercialised the stethoscope for the telemedicine segment, , said an official from the Department of Science and Technology.
The DST through its Centre for Augmenting WAR with COVID-19 Health Crisis (CAWACH) initiative scouted, evaluated and supported promising ventilator, respiratory aids and other vital medical equipment from five startups who have now taken their products to deployment stage.
“The aim is to change with the time and reach out to the patients in these tough times. Such medical equipments can keep doctors safe and cater to unique emergency requirements of the Covid 19 crisis,” said Prof. Ashutosh Sharma Secretary with the DST.
Take the case of the portable Oxygen Concentrator by Ambala-based Walnut Medical which helps hospitals generate oxygen in-house. This is the first oxygen concentrator made in India and is fitted with automated oxygen flow technology which will prevent patient suffering from hyperoxia. It is an intelligent closed loop system which monitors oxygen level and gives enough oxygen to the patient as per the patient need. IIT Delhi incubation team worked with them to help the technology see the light of the day, said the official.
Walnut Medical will be donating 50 Oxygen Concentrators to Govt hospitals by November end and then launch the product in the market.
On the other hand, Pune-based Nocca Robotics has developed a ventilator which operates in both invasive and noninvasive, pressure-controlled mode and solar powered with low wattage requirement. It works with medical airline and oxygen as well as ambient air and oxygen and has App based control and IoT enabled system.
Hyderabad based Aerobiosys Technologies has developed a ventilator that is portable, cost-effective, IoT-enabled and powered by lithium ion batteries. “It operates uninterrupted for 5 hours and is both invasive and non-invasive, with a smartphone app to control the device. The system displays a real-time information of the breath pattern and other critical lung parameters. It can attach to an oxygen cylinder and can operate on its own in ambient air,” said the official.
Catering to heat diseases, Pune-based Jeevtronics has developed a device called defibrillator that restores normal heartbeat by sending an electric pulse or shock to the heart. It is used to prevent or correct an arrhythmia, a heartbeat that is uneven or that is too slow or too fast. They have developed dual powered defibrillator (grid + hand cranked), as well a battery less defibrillator for sudden cardiac arrest.
CAWACH Program has been steered by National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) of DST. Dr. Anita Gupta, Head of NSTEDB said, “Bringing in special flexibility and speed in providing support was critical to the timely success of startups.”
Prof. Ashutosh Sharma added, “The present and clear challenges of Covid-19 brought an unprecedented synergy of efforts among academia, labs, startups, industry and government which allowed rapid extraordinary developments with a shared purpose.”