8 Indian Innovations That Could Prove Crucial in Tackling COVID-19

Apart from all the negative implications, a crisis, particularly of the magnitude of the Coronavirus pandemic, offers fertile ground for innovations.
From The Better Home
In India, it has compelled institutions and startups to come up with critical innovations that may one day secure us from similar scenarios in the future.

Given below are a list of 8 innovations that are yet to enter commercial production:
IIT Hyderabad-incubated Startup: Low-Cost, Portable Emergency Use Ventilator

IIT-H’s Center for Healthcare Entrepreneurship (CfHE) incubated startup Aerobiosys Innovations has developed a low-cost, portable and emergency-use ventilator called ‘Jeevan Lite’.

This device offers protection to healthcare providers, and since it is IoT-enabled, it can be operated through an app. It can also be battery-operated, enabling its deployment in areas without assured power supply.

Awaiting device certification, Aerobiosys Innovations aims to produce at least 50 to 70 units per day through collaboration with an industrial partner and plans to price Jeevan Lite at Rs 1 lakh.

IIT Roorkee: Low-cost face shields to be used by AIIMS Rishikesh
IIT Roorkee’s ‘ReThink! The Tinkering Lab’ has developed low-cost face shields for frontline health workers at AIIMS Rishikesh for protection from COVID-19. The frame of the face shield is 3D printed.

“The spectacle-type design of the protection shield provides the ease of replacement as the transparent sheet is not bound to a reusable frame,” says its press release.

The manufacturing cost per shield is approximately Rs 45. Mass manufacturing cost will be even less.

IIT Roorkee: Low-cost portable ventilator as well
IIT Roorkee has also developed a low-cost portable ventilator. Called ‘Prana-Vayu,’ the closed-loop ventilator is developed in collaboration with AIIMS, Rishikesh, and is equipped with top of the line features. The prototype has been tested successfully for normal and patient-specific breathing conditions.

“The ventilator is based on the controlled operation of the prime mover to deliver the required amount of air to the patient. The automated process controls the pressure and flow rates in the inhalation and exhalation lines. Besides, the ventilator has feedback that can control tidal volume and breathe per minute,” says its press release.

The ventilator will be suitable for patients of all age groups, especially the elderly.
COVID-19
 
IIT-Bombay: Device that sanitises currency notes, mobile phones
Researchers at IIT-Bombay have developed a portable UltraViolet Sanitiser that can disinfect currency notes, mobile phones and other small items. This can help clean surfaces as a precautionary measure against the spread of the Coronavirus.

“The sanitiser has been prepared by using stainless steel kitchen containers and aluminium mesh… So far, the team has conducted trials only inside the lab. The sanitiser was developed by Industrial Design Centre (IDC) at the institute,” reports the Financial Express.
IISc: Indigenous prototype of ventilator

While manufacturers around India are struggling to source key components like sensors and flow controllers from abroad to produce their ventilators, the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is building one from scratch with components made in India.

From The Better Home

Working 24/7, its indigenous electro-mechanical ventilator prototype is expected to be ready this month. The team at IISc are building it based on the guidelines issued by the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

“We are building it so that anyone can use it free of cost,” TV Prabhakar, Principal Research Scientist at the Department of Electronic Systems Engineering (DESE) and one of the founders of the project, was quoted as saying in an IISc statement.

Indian Railways: Prototype of Isolation Ward
The Indian Railways has developed a prototype of train coaches that could soon be used as isolation units for COVID-19.

According to this Economic Times report, “10 coaches will be converted into isolation units for those affected by COVID-19, by each zonal railway every week.”

It goes on to add, “To make the isolation cabin, the middle berth has been removed from one side, while all the three berths have been removed in front of the patient berth, as per details shared by the official. There is a provision of air curtains in each compartment.”
COVID-19

Indian Railways: PPEs for frontline healthcare workers
In a significant development on Sunday (April 5), the Defence Research and Development Organisation cleared two samples of personal protective equipment (PPE) coveralls developed by a Northern Railways workshop. According to the Economic Times, “the test at the Defence Research and Development Organisation’s Gwalior lab was conducted to check the resistance of the bio-protective covering material (fabric/garment) to penetration of blood or body fluid.” The Northern Railways went onto add, “Now these coveralls will be manufactured by Indian Railways and will be worn by doctors in railway hospitals while treating COVID-19 patients.”

    Indian Railways has taken up the in-house production of PPE type overall on a mission mode.

    Facilities are being geared up in Railways to make up to 1000 protective overall for Railway Doctors & Paramedics every day.
   
Dozee: Medical-Grade Remote Monitoring of Vitals

Dozee, the startup behind the contact-free and smart health monitor, has responded to the epidemic by using their device for medical-grade remote monitoring of vital health indicators including respiratory rate and heart rate for vulnerable patients stuck at home, makeshift ICUs or medical facilities that are suffering from a serious shortage of personnel.

“We have been working to secure our supply chain and can meet a demand of up 100,000 devices per week although, given the demand spike, we are attempting to prioritise this for health systems dealing with large numbers of at-risk patients or where healthcare workers are scarce,” said Mudit Dandwate, CEO and co-founder at Dozee, told Economic Times.

 

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New Method to Predict Pregnancy Disorder Developed

Researchers have developed a simple, low-cost way to predict preeclampsia, one of the leading causes of maternal-foetal mortality worldwide. Preesimpleclampsia can cause devastating complications for women and babies, including brain and liver injury in mothers and premature birth. 

"In developing nations, preeclampsia is a leading cause of death for both mothers and babies. In Ghana, it's responsible for 18 per cent of maternal deaths," said the study researcher.

But it can be treated using medication that lowers blood pressure once diagnosed," he added.
For the study, researchers assessed the health status of over 500 pregnant Ghanaian women using Suboptimal Health Questionnaire. Combining scores for fatigue, heart health, digestion, immunity and mental health, the questionnaire provides an overall "suboptimal health score" that can help predict chronic diseases. 

The researchers found that 61 per cent of women who scored high on the questionnaire went on to develop preeclampsia, compared with just 17 per cent of women who scored low. 

When these results were combined with blood tests that measured women's calcium and magnesium levels, the researchers were able to accurately predict the development of preeclampsia in almost 80 per cent of cases. 

According to the researchers, preeclampsia was very treatable once identified, so providing an early warning could save thousands of lives. 

"Both blood tests for magnesium and calcium and the Suboptimal Health Questionnaire are inexpensive, making this ideally suited to the developing world where preeclampsia causes the most suffering," he said. 

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Nature will help you reduce stress

Taking at least 20 minutes out of your day to stroll or sit in a place that makes you feel in contact with nature will significantly lower your stress hormone level, suggests study.

“We know that spending time in nature reduces stress, but until now it was unclear how much is enough, how often to do it, or even what kind of nature experience will benefit us,” said the  lead author of this research.

“Our study shows that for the greatest payoff, in terms of efficiently lowering levels of the stress hormone cortisol, you should spend 20 to 30 minutes sitting or walking in a place that provides you with a sense of nature,” she added  in the study published.

Nature pills could be a low-cost solution to reduce the negative health impacts  stemming from growing urbanisation and indoor lifestyles dominated by screen viewing.

To assist healthcare practitioners looking for evidence-based guidelines on what exactly to dispense, Hunter and her colleagues designed an experiment that would give a realistic estimate of an effective dose.

Over an 8-week period, participants were asked to take a nature pill with a duration of 10 minutes or more, at least 3 times a week. Levels of cortisol, a stress hormone, were measured from saliva samples taken before and after a nature pill, once every two weeks.

“Participants were free to choose the time of day, duration, and the place of their nature experience, which was defined as anywhere outside that in the opinion of the participant, made them feel like they’ve interacted with nature. There were a few constraints to minimise factors known to influence stress: take the nature pill in daylight, no aerobic exercise, and avoid the use of social media, internet, phone calls, conversations, and reading,” she explained.

“Building personal flexibility into the experiment, allowed us to identify the optimal duration of a nature pill, no matter when or where it is taken, and under the normal circumstances of modern life, with its unpredictability and hectic scheduling,” she continued.

To make allowances for busy lifestyles, while also providing meaningful results, the experimental design was novel in other aspects too.

“We accommodated day to day differences in a participant’s stress status by collecting four snapshots of cortisol change due to a nature pill. It also allowed us to identify and account for the impact of the ongoing, natural drop in cortisol level as the day goes on, making the estimate of effective duration more reliable,” said the author.

The data revealed that just a twenty-minute nature experience was enough to significantly reduce cortisol levels. But if you spent a little more time immersed in nature experience, 20 to 30 minutes sitting or walking, cortisol levels dropped at their greatest rate. After that, additional de-stressing benefits continue to add up but at a slower rate.

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Pain-free alternative for diabetics

No more finger pricking to check glucose!

Scientists have developed disposable paper-based sensors that can measure glucose concentrations in saliva, paving the way for a pain-free alternative to diabetics for monitoring their blood sugar levels daily -- as per a study.

A team from the Sensors Lab used inkjet technology to produce sensors sensitive to small sugar concentrations in biofluids.

Why diabetics need this

Inexpensive and easy-to-use diagnostic tools for fast health screening are imperative, especially in the developing world, where portability and affordability are a necessity.

Today, the majority of daily glucose monitoring tools rely on piercing the skin to draw blood.

The pain and discomfort associated with finger pricking have created a global need to develop non-invasive, portable glucose assays.

How did they create these paper sensors?

Strips of pH-sensitive paper are commonly used to test whether a liquid is acidic or alkaline.

Researchers applied similar principles to create paper sensors that quickly indicate disease bio-markers.

 

Key to this approach is replacing traditional electronic circuitry in the sensors with low-cost plastics that can be manufactured quickly and in large quantities.

 

Utilising a commercial ink made from conducting polymers, the team printed microscale electrode patterns onto glossy paper sheets.

 

They printed a sensing layer containing an enzyme, glucose oxidase, on top of the tiny electrodes.

The biochemical reaction between available glucose and the enzyme creates electrical signals easily correlated to blood sugar levels.

Challenges of developing this pain-free alternative

"Paper is porous, which makes it challenging to print conducting and biological inks that are dissolved in water," said a researcher of the study.

"Printing the enzyme is tricky, as well -- it's sensitive to variations of temperature, the voltage applied at the cartridge, and the pH of the ink,"he added.

While fluids, such as sweat or saliva, contain enough sugar for monitoring purposes, they also contain molecules, such as ascorbic acid, that interfere electrically with conducting polymers.
Coating the sensor with a nafion polymer membrane that repels the negative charges present in most interfering species enabled measurement of only the relevant glucose levels in saliva samples from volunteers.

a) Photograph of glucose biosensors inkjet-printed on paper b) Photograph of fully printed biosensor c) 3D schematic of working electrode with all separately printed layers d) Cross sectional SEM image of the working electrode [Image: Nature]

The novel sensor has a bright future

This fully printed, all-polymer biosensor with its ease of fabrication, accuracy, sensitivity and compatibility with easy-to-obtain biofluids such as saliva aids in the development of next generation low-cost, non-invasive, eco-friendly, and disposable diagnostic tools.
Experiments showed the top coating gave the sensor an unprecedented shelf life -- the enzyme could be kept alive and active for a month if stored in a sealed bag.
These results are encouraging the team to expand the capabilities of this approach by incorporating different enzymes into the sensing layer.

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                                                                
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