BETiC, IIT-Bombay Innovator Built Smart OPD Booth to Protect Doctors while Screening COVID-19 Patients

Doctors who come in contact with COVID-19 patients are at the highest risk of infection with the virus. Personal protective equipment (PPE) including face masks, face shields and full body gowns help them in preventing the infection. The doctors are required to wear a fresh PPE for their shift and discard them afterward. Given the large number of PPE required, it is not surprising that these are in short supply.

At the beginning of the pandemic, some doctors were reported to be using helmets as face masks to protect themselves while screening COVID-19 patients. Subsequent reports mentioned that the Indian Government had ordered 15 million PPE kits including face masks and gowns from China. The apparel industry also chipped in and declared that they were gearing up to start local production of PPE kits.

The shortage of PPE has resulted in the tragic death of many doctors and nursing staff taking care of COVID-19 patients. Going by the trends in the USA, UK and other countries where several hundred doctors and care-givers lost their lives to the pandemic, this has become a great cause for concern. With the rising rate of infections and death in India in spite of lock-down that entered the third phase on 3rd March, there is greater urgency for solutions to protect the healthcare professionals, especially who are screening COVID patients.

Ayu Devices, a start-up from BETIC (Biomedical Engineering and Technology Innovation Centre) of IIT Bombay responded to the challenge by developing a smart COVID OPD (Out Patient Department) booth. It contains two air-conditioned chambers – one for the doctor and one for the patient with a glass barrier in between, and a two-way communication system. The doctor checks the patient using a smart stethoscope developed by the start-up, which allows listening, recording and transmitting chest sounds over wireless networks without touching the patient.

The booth also contains a temperature gun, pulse oximeter and swab-taking provision for screening the patients. Contactless automatic sanitizer disposing machines are placed outside the separate entrances for doctors and patients. The smart OPD booth is also equipped with a disinfection system to sanitize the room after every patient has been screened, to prevent cross-contamination between patients.

Adarsha K, CEO Ayu Devices elaborates --

It was Dr Rangnath Jhawar, who identified the need for a smart, safe and portable booth to screen and diagnose Covid-19 patients. The booth was designed by Dr. Rangnath Jhawar, Dr. Durwesh Kadri and Mr. Shrishail Hamine, of Krea Design Solutions. They shared the concept with Sevak Trust, an NGO, who stepped forward under the guidance of Dr. Vidya Mane, Medical Superintendent of HBT Trauma Care Municipal Hospital. The team deployed the first Smart COVID OPD booth at the same hospital, and is continuously improving, manufacturing and deploying similar booths in other hospitals.

In addition to the HBT Trauma Care Municipal Hospital, the Smart COVID OPD booth is now deployed at many other hospitals across the city including Cama Hospital, Sion Hospital, JJ Hospital, St. George's and Rajawadi Hospital. Many donors such as Money Life Foundation have pitched in to support this initiative. The fact that Ayu Devices is already a trusted name in the diagnostics space, improved the acceptance of the smart OPD.

More than 1000 smart stethoscopes of Ayu Devices are in use across the country, many of them in primary health centres in rural areas and telemedicine firms. Many doctors are checking COVID-19 patients using the stethoscope since it transmits data from the stethoscope to a mobile or laptop via Bluetooth. The data can be shared with other doctors for analysis, thereby distributing the workload.

“The smart OPD booth is an excellent example of multi-disciplinary collaboration and all-round cooperation in this period of crisis. The booth increases the efficiency of screening COVID-19 patients while minimizing the risk of infection to doctors. It can also be deployed in shopping malls, housing societies, offices and schools to halt the spread of this pandemic.” adds Dr Rupesh Ghyar, SEO of BETIC, who mentored Adarsha and his team.

Team members of Ayu Devices include Adarsha K, Ninad Kambli, Shashank Chaurasia, Srikant Mishra, Amey Haldankar, Hassan Kumar Gundu and Vishesh Sinha.

The smart stethoscope module called AyuLynk converts conventional stethoscopes into digital stethoscopes, and allows wireless transmission. It was invented at BETIC, IIT Bombay in 2016 by Adarsha K, who gave up a cushy job in Larsen & Toubro to incubate his start-up company Ayu Devices in 2017.

BETiC- IIT B innovator Aneesh Karma wins Aarohan social innovations awards for 2019

BETiC (Biomedical Engineering and Technology incubation Center) IIT-Bombay, Aneesh Karma won the Infosys foundation - 2nd Aarohan social innovations awards in the healthcare silver category. The award function took place in Bengaluru on 19th February 2020 in a compact setting.

[caption id="attachment_142295" align="alignleft" width="450"] Aneesh Karma - Aarohan Social Innovations Awards 2020[/caption]

The awards were organized by the CSR arm of Infosys called the Infosys foundation. Infosys foundation established the Aarohan Social Innovation awards in 2018 to recognize and reward individuals, teams, and NGOs for creating innovative solutions to support the underprivileged in India, at scale – as affirmed by the source (https://www.infosys.com/newsroom/press-releases/2020/aarohan-social-innovation-awards-winners-announcement.html)

Native to UP’s Bulandshahr district with a humble family background, Aneesh and his wife are both polio patients. The UP government provided low-cost drop-lock calipers, but they were uncomfortable and inefficient. Aneesh started modifying the design, filed a patent in 2015 with the help of National Research Development Corporation (NRDC). With a vision to help the 1.2 million polio cases in India, he joined BETiC-IIT-Bombay in 2018.

Aneesh’s innovation, the knee ankle-foot orthosis (KAFO) offers a solution for those affected by polio, paralysis, cerebral palsy, neuromuscular disorders and accidents. His KAFO is versatile, with a 135-degree angle flexion for squatting, walking and cycling. It weighs only 1.3 kg and can provide support to an individual weighing up to 120 kg. Along with all of this, it is multiple footwear compatible and is affordably priced. Imported orthotics, with intelligent sensor systems which control the knee joint through pneumatics, linear springs, hydraulics and torsional rods are too expensive.

Aneesh's innovation has also won awards such as NCPEDP- Mphasis Universal Design Awards 2019, The Big Idea Summit and Expo 2020, IIT Kanpur’s 2018 Techkriti Innovator award and many others. In 2019, Aneesh also won the BIRAC Biotechnology Ignition Grant.

Together with the award, Aneesh and his team were rewarded with a prize money of 10 lakh INR by the hands of the chairperson of Infosys foundation, philanthropist and renowned author Mrs. Sudha Murthy and non-executive chairman of Infosys Nandan Nikleni, reflecting token of appreciation and encouragement to create more low-cost innovative healthcare devices for the underprivileged society.

On receiving the award, Aneesh said, “For any innovator, the initial years are swamped with financial issues that do not necessarily limit but definitely slow down the pace of developing the innovations. Such monetarily assistance ease the pressure on that front and allows a smooth channel for the process of innovating a device."

Prof. B. Ravi, Founder of BETiC says, "Anyone can be a successful innovator- assuming they have enough fire and have access to a supportive eco-system. This award is a validation of our efforts to nurture promising innovators from rural areas, and to make low cost medical innovation a reality."

ABOUT AROHAN AWARDS

The awards were identified across four categories: Healthcare, Rural Development, Destitute Care and Sustainability. The awards comprised of a promising jury panel including Mrs. Sudha Murthy, Chairperson – Infosys Foundation, philanthropist and renowned author, Padma Shri Mr. Arvind Gupta, an Indian toy inventor and science expert, Padma Shri Prof. Anil Gupta, visiting faculty member, IIM Ahmedabad, a globally renowned scholar of grassroots innovations, and Founder of the Honeybee Network and four others. The winners were shortlisted from a pool of over 1,700 submissions and evaluated by the distinguished jury. The ten social innovators were awarded with a total prize money of INR 1.50crore for their breakthrough innovations.

About BETIC:

The Biomedical Engineering and Technology Innovation Centre is located at IIT Bombay, with satellite centers in six engineering colleges and seven medical institutes across Maharashtra. The initiative is envisioned and supported by S&T Council of Maharashtra Government and DST, New Delhi, to accelerate indigenous development of affordable medical devices suitable for local manufacture and use. In the last five years, the BETIC team developed and filed patents for over 50 devices, and licensed 20 of them to start-up companies or industry partners.

BETiC Innovator Develops FractoAid to Prevent Disability post Severe Accident

In India, 10%-30% of hospital registrations are due to road traffic injuries and a majority of these people tend to develop varying levels of disabilities.

An accident victim may just have a fracture- but due to improper handling while transferring them to a hospital, the condition may worsen. A simple splint could prevent matters from getting worse. Award winning innovator Mayur Sanas wanted to find a solution. A native of a small village located in Satara district of Maharashtra, he joined an engineering college in Kolhapur. After his master’s in mechanical engineering from IIITDM, Kanchipuram, he planned to pursue a PhD in Taiwan, but after seeing an advertisement stating a position vacant at BETiC, he was intrigued and joined BETiC.

[caption id="attachment_138904" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Innovator Mayur Sanas demonstrating his innovation FractoAid[/caption]

Mayur explains, “ The tendency of a fracture to cause swelling during the first few days, prevents a full plaster cast from being applied to immobilise the limb. Hence, doctors use a splint (essentially a half-cast) to accommodate tissue volume changes due to swelling and subsiding, after which a full plaster cast is applied. The splints available in the market were either ineffective or expensive. So I developed an alternative design using paper as the base material, stacking it with plaster rolls, enclosing both in a fabric envelope, and attaching Velcro straps."

The split is dipped in water, placed at the fractured area, gently pressed to give it the desired shape, and tied up with the straps. It dries within a few minutes, giving ample support to the fracture site. The material allows the skin to breathe. Initially called ‘hybrid plaster splint’, the product is now called as FractoAid after a few technical upgradations with respect to its fabric and packaging.

This innovation is important because a majority of victims of road traffic injuries are men in the peak working age group of 15-44 years and belong to the poorer sections of society.

Prof B Ravi, founder of BETiC- Biomedical Engineering and Technology Incubation Center, IIT-B, who has mentored Mayur explains, “the challenge was to select the right type and thickness of paper and other required materials, so that the desired strength could be achieved with the least possible weight. The product has developed 6 variants up to date, suitable for different age groups, that is, a small size splint for individuals between 6-10 years of age, a medium size splint for individuals between 11-21 years of age and a large size splint for individuals above 21 years of age."

In early 2018, Mayur won the Biotechnology Ignition Grant. He also won the award for social innovation at national conference of social innovations in November 2019.

BETiC innovators have also developed -

1. Clubfoot Brace Monitor

1 in 500 children in India are affected by Clubfoot deformities- is a birth deformity where the feet get rotated at the ankle. It can be corrected using leg braces, where the feet of the child are placed in a series of plaster casts and changed every week for 6 weeks. However, the results are varied as parents do not always follow the instructions properly. BETiC developed a clubfoot brace monitor with touch sensors- that capture and help to monitor the time span for which the child wears the braces. For the first three months the child wears the braces round the clock, the duration is then reduced to 8 hours by the age 4. This data is tracked every 15 mins and is recorded in the device software. Doctors can then access the actual usage of the brace and suggest accurate treatment. In some cases, the child’s feet get completely cured.

2. Ratna Nidhi prosthetic leg

The Ratna Nidhi Leg, derived from the Jaipur Foot, has been created using a new process that enables rehabilitation engineers to deliver prosthetic legs to the amputees and landmine victims in the most rural and vulnerable populations in a shorter time. The new process uses mobile 3D parametric modelling to accurately capture and transmit 3D models of the residual limb, to design comfortable and yet affordable trans-femoral sockets. This is in the pilot phase right now.

“Low cost accessible medical devices are a priority for BETiC,” affirms Prof B Ravi.

‘Made in India’ Medical Device to Prevent Global Problem of Diabetic Foot Amputation

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), India had 69.2 million people living with diabetes in 2015. By 2030 it is expected to touch 100 million. Known as a silent killer, diabetes is a chronic metabolic disease caused by reduced insulin produced by the body. People with poor control over their blood sugar risk disease or damage to eyes, heart, kidney and other organs.

A lesser monitored yet widely prevalent complication of chronic diabetes is nerve damage or neuropathy, which affects the feet. The person does not feel; hence does not notice an injury. The injury does not heal, turning into an ulcer. If untreated, this leads to gangrene, and requires amputation, ranging from toe to entire leg. This creates disability, deteriorates functional independence and further aggravates the diabetic condition.

[caption id="attachment_137946" align="aligncenter" width="500"] IIT BETiC innovator Nishant Kathpal,[/caption]

There is a diabetic foot amputation in India every few minutes, as per some estimates. These can be prevented by holistic examination of the feet, diagnosing the condition early, and taking proper care. The examination includes checking the perception of touch, vibration and temperature stimuli applied to the foot sole of patients. These tests are subjective – relying on the perceived response of patients, and hence need to be repeated.

Dr. Rajani Mullerpatan, Director of the Centre for Human Movement Science (MGMCHMS) at the MGM Institute of Health Sciences, Navi Mumbai noticed that the foot sole of diabetic patients is stiffer compared to normal patients. She hypothesized that a single device for objective testing of foot sole stiffness will replace several existing tests and help in mass screening and monitoring the foot complication. She approached the Biomedical Engineering and Technology incubation Centre (BETiC) in IIT Bombay with a concept design to develop a novel device early detection of diabetic neuropathy. The team developed several versions with clinical input from MGMCHMS Team.

Nishant Kathpal, an IITB student who developed the latest version of the portable diabetic foot screener, declined an offer from blue chip company Intel to commercialise the product. He incubated a company called Ayati Devices in SINE, the business incubator of IIT Bombay. His team won the coveted Biotechnology Ignition Grant of Rs. 5 million from BIRAC, New Delhi. The funds are being put to good use, for pilot batch production, as well as clinical trials in MGM and other hospitals. The latest version of the product was launched on 2nd October 2019.

Nishant explains “Our device has a short plunger that presses the foot sole and measures the reaction force, to obtain the stiffness value. The device is fully automatic and can be connected to a mobile phone to visualize the results. These are categorized as green (safe), orange (borderline) and red (diabetic foot condition). The screening takes less than two minutes, compared to over 15 minutes by other products in the market. Early detection of diabetic foot neuropathy condition will enable more effective treatment, preventing millions of such foot amputations worldwide.”

The device is slated for testing on a large number of patients with diabetic neuropathy to generate objective data to create the three categories, which will be mapped against normative values from healthy people with diabetes

According to Dr. Rupesh Ghyar, Senior Executive Officer of BETiC, the device has successfully passed mechanical and electrical safety tests carried out in accredited regional test labs, in accordance with prevailing international standards. It has also received a no objection certificate from CDSCO, New Delhi, which regulates the manufacturing and marketing of pharmaceutical drugs and medical devices in India.

The team recently won the best IoT Healthcare Innovation award at the IOT Congress 2019, in Bangalore. They are also showcasing the device at Go Global India Program at London on 1st December. In February 2020, the device will be presented at Swissnex Academia Industry Training Workshop in Switzerland and Advanced Technologies & Treatments for Diabetes Conference in Spain. This is yet another ‘Made in India’ medical device that has potential to become a global success story.

15 Novel Medical Devices Conceived within 100 Hours at Camp in IITB

The Medical Device Innovation Camp (MEDIC) at IIT Bombay that was inaugurated on 28th September and concluded on 2nd October had 60 participants from Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Kolkata, Guwahati, Kanpur, Chandigarh, Patiala, Jodhpur, Goa, Surathkal, Cochin, Bengaluru, Chennai, Bhimavaram and other parts of India. They formed 15 inter-disciplinary teams, each led by a doctor, and created proof-of-concepts of innovative solutions for various medical problems provided by top doctors from various hospitals. The Biomedical Engineering and Technology incubation Centre (BETiC) of IITB along with 5 engineering and 5 medical institutes across Maharashtra who have set up BETiC cells, organized the five day Camp.

“I had accumulated two treasures over many years of my life but lost them within four days at the Medical Device Innovation Camp in IIT Bombay. One was my ego and the other was being judgemental” said Dr. Chitra Lekha from Chennai. Other participants also shared their experience during the ‘award acceptance’ speeches on the finale of the Camp. “What we did here in four days is unthinkable even in four months, usually.” said one participant. Another exclaimed, “I am an early sleeper, and can’t believe still standing here after four straight night-outs”. Sleepless yet untired, the participants mentioned how they were kept on their toes by BETiC mentors.

[caption id="attachment_136059" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Medic participants presenting their demonstrations before jury and audience[/caption]

Dr. Rupesh Ghyar, Chief Mentor of BETiC, said “Participants did not know what problem they will solve, did not know who will be their team members, and what will be the tools and techniques for solving the problems.” Each team is led by a doctor, supported by design, electronics and mechanical engineers. Most of them are industry professionals, entrepreneurs and teachers; a few are final year students. They were invited to the Camp after passing a screening round based on their domain expertise and creative potential.

The results are impressive, going by the comments of about 50 senior doctors from top hospitals in Mumbai, Pune and other cities who gathered at IITB to evaluate the team presentations. Dr. Manish Agarwal from Hinduja Hospital, Dr. Hemant Bhansali from Nanavati Hospital, Dr. Alaric Aroojis from Wadia Hospital, Dr. Dasmit Singh from BJ Medical College, Pune and others who are associated with various medical device projects at BETiC, grilled the participants while offering many useful suggestions.

There were three groups of devices – screening, surgical and assistive, and five categories of prizes, one each for novelty, research, design, engineering and impact. Screening devices that won prizes in above categories included intra cranial pressure measurement, lung volume measurement, continuous blood glucose monitoring, preterm delivery detection, and peripheral vascular disease detection. Device that won prizes in other groups were anti-bacterial microbiology, nasal bleeding blocker, smart surgery head lights, tumour margin guidance, portable ventilator, splints for burns, sleep apnea preventer, below-knee stump measurement, moving orbital prosthesis, and clubfoot deformity measurement.

The prizes were given away by Dr. Mohit Gamhir, Director-Innovation of Ministry of HRD, Delhi, Dr. Nishigandha Naik, Director of Haffkine Institute, Dr. Anita Aggarwal from Department of S&T, Delhi, Dr. Arun Sapre, Mr. Anil Manekar and Dr. Pragati Gokhale from RG S&T Council, Maharashtra Government, Mr. Hiten Gandhi from Maharashtra State Innovation Society, Prof. B.B. Ahuja, Director of College of Engineering Pune, Prof. A.M. Kuthe, VNIT Nagpur, Mr. Deepankar Bhattarcharya from Autodesk Education, Bangalore and other invited dignitaries.

Dr. Mohit Gambhir, who had also chaired the presentation sessions said, “Innovation is what makes life easier. But innovation itself is a long and hard journey. I still cannot believe that the proof-of-concepts presented by the participants were given to them only 100 hours back, and they did not even know their team members. This shows what we can achieve with an exemplary eco-system like BETiC.”

Many participants of previous MEDIC camps had left lucrative careers elsewhere and joined BETiC. In the last four years, they developed 50 medical devices and filed their patents. Of these, 20 have been commercialized by licensing to startup companies or industry partners. These products, as well as those ready for licensing were showcased at a concurrent Medical Device Expo (MEDEX), which was inaugurated by Padma Vibhushan Dr. Anil Kakodkar and Prof. Subhasis Chaudhury, Director of IITB on the previous day. Over 500 visitors saw the devices and talked to their innovators.

Some of the startups also pitched to potential investors in a special session in the presence of Prof. Santosh Gharpure, who heads SINE, the technology business incubator or IITB. The startups included Ayu Devices, who have already sold over 650 units of their smart stethoscopes; Ayati Devices, who launched a diabetic foot screener; Aumeesh Tech, who have developed a knee ankle foot orthosis; sand Tenon Meditech, who are commercializing a biopsy gun. All these were developed at BETiC, IITB. The investors included MD Agarwal, former President of Bombay Management Association, Nitin Deshmukh from Kotak Private Equity, G. Ramachandran from Keiretsu Forum, Leonard Menezes from Ace Alcobev, Mayur Sirdesai from Somerset Indus, Mauritius, Ram Kedlaya from Keiretsu as well as senior management of several pharma companies including Alembic, Biocon and Torrent. They asked sharp questions about the business model and market traction, and offered their guidance and support to the young entrepreneurs.

Prof. B. Ravi, founder of BETiC briefly shared the journey of BETiC and said “BETiC is like a ‘running partner’ to med-tech innovators, offering them water, glucose and encouragement to race faster to the finish line - putting their products in market. We are now planning to extend our expertise and services to other researchers and entrepreneurs, both within and outside IITB, by setting up a not-for-profit company. This is under active consideration of Maharashtra Government and IIT Bombay.”

Mission 100 Hours: 15 Teams at BETiC IIT Bombay take up Med-Tech Innovation Challenge

• Portable ventilators could make all the difference between life and death in critical cases in remote locations.


• Detecting premature births in advance could help anticipate NICU transfer, save time and a precious life.


• Knowing the correct extent of spread of a tumour could help to ensure that all cancerous cells are removed and not spread through vascular region of body.

These are some of the 15 innovations that will be the focus of Medical Device Innovation Camp (MEDIC 2019) currently underway at IIT Bombay. The real challenge is for 15 teams to come up with solutions within the 100 hour period from 28th September to 1st October.

Prof. B. Ravi, founder of BETiC shares “ 60 participants have formed 15 teams, each comprising a doctor, product designer, electronics engineer and mechanical engineer. They will work through four days and nights to evolve novel concepts to solve the selected problems, then fabricate and test the proof-of-concepts, mentored by BETiC team,” he said.

In addition to Mumbai, participants have come from Kolkata, Pune, Bhopal, Nashik, Jodhpur, Wardha, Kurnool, Punjab, Bhimavaram, Cochin, Hyderabad, Kanpur, Trivandrum, Chennai, Bangalore, Nagpur, Chandigarh, Guwahati, Patiala, Chandrapur, Goa and Karnataka.

[gallery type="rectangular" size="medium" columns="1" ids="135831,135832,135833,135834"]

The innovation journey starts from defining unmet needs by doctors, developing appropriate solutions by researchers, delivering tested devices by entrepreneurs and deploying them with support from investors. There are ‘valleys of death’ in this difficult path, but these can be overcome by committed people who come out of comfort zones and collaborate with people with complementary skills.

The unique Camp is organized by the Biomedical Engineering and Technology (incubation) Center (BETiC) of IIT Bombay. The Centre is supported by RGSTC, Maharashtra Government and DST, New Delhi to spur indigenous affordable medical device innovation. Today, seven engineering and seven medical institutes across Maharashtra are part of the BETiC network, churning out medical devices and innovators.

Prof. Milind Atrey, Dean of Research and Development, IIT Bombay inaugurated the Camp along with Dr. Vijay Shetty, Orthopaedic Surgeon at Hiranandani Hospital and Vice President of Indian Association of Sports Medicine. Prof. Milind said, “Since its inception in 2014, BETiC has created a string of success stories by developing, patent filing, industrial licensing and incubating ten startup companies.” Dr. Vijay recalled his long association with BETiC and how the centre is bringing doctors and engineers together for medical device innovation.

The participants will present their proof-of-concepts to an eminent jury of doctors, professors, industry professionals and investors on the finale of 2nd October. A concurrent exhibition will showcase medical devices developed and commercialised by participants of previous Camps.

“We will also have two special events - a new product launch and investor pitches”, shared Dr. Rupesh Ghyar, SEO of BETiC.

MED TECH CHALLENGES BEING TAKEN UP AT MEDIC 2019

1. Intracranial pressure ( ICP ) Measurement - ICP indicates the prognosis and treatment in patients with brain injury. Currently pressure sensor/catheter is placed into brain ventricle, which is invasive.

2. Smart Surgery Head Light - OT lights are continually adjusted by surgeon or assistant for desired illumination and focus, wasting precious PT time.

3. Orbital Prosthesis - Rehabilitation of patient with orbital defect (exenteration) is difficult due to non-mobility ( no blinking ) of orbital prosthesis leading to visual imbalance in appearance.

4. Nasal Bleeding - In case of epistaxis or acute haemorrhage from nostril, applied pressure may not succeed, and lead to re-bleeding. It requires surgical expertise and skill.

5. Portable Ventilator - Patients facing emergency conditions of acute respiratory disorder or failure to provide assistive breathing support require ventilators.

6. Splints for Burns - Splints for neck, chest and upper extremities causes pressure over the raw area in burn patients. This causes reluctance reading use of splints in such patients.

7. Sleep Apnea - Interrupted breathing during sleeping needs to be overcome by mini CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) device wearable in nose or neck region.

8. Lung Volume Measurement - Lung volume (original, reduced) enables diagnose of airway diseases. There is need to estimate original lung volume from X-ray, CT/MRI, BMI, and other parameters.

9. Continuous blood Glucose Monitoring - Blood glucose level surges are missed by intermittent measurement, causing complications. Unmonitored surges of glucose level need to be captured.

10. Preterm Delivery - Suboptimal obstetric care and delayed transfer of neonate to NICU needs to be prevented by diagnosing preterm labour in absence of trained clinicians.

11. Anti Bacterial Microbiology - Measuring zone inhibition of disc diffusion while testing antibiotic sensitivity as per cut-offs for organisms which can be linked or transferred to HMIS.

12. Tumor Margin Guiding - Tumor margin needs to be traced for correct resection of melanoma, to ensure all cancerous cells are removed and not spread through vascular region of body.

13. Below-Knee Stump Measurement - Device to measure the geometry of stump of patient with below-knee amputation, for fabricating matching socket of prosthesis.

14. PVD Detection - Reduced blood supply to skin can be used an early diagnostic procedure for forthcoming diseases, such as peripheral vascular disease ( PVD).

15. Clubfoot Deformity Measurement - Uniformly measure and classify angular deformity of weight bearing in clubfoot children at OPD /remote places without expert clinicians.

BETiC, IIT-B Launches 5th Ed. of Medical Device Innovation Camp for Working Professionals

The Biomedical Engineering & Technology incubation Centre (BETiC) of IIT Bombay, which recently concluded a series of medical device hackathons at Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur, recently announced their annual training workshop MEDIC – Medical Device Innovation Camp from 28 September to 2 October 2019 to be held in the Powai campus.

Over the five days of MEDIC, participants will form inter-disciplinary teams and work on real-life projects guided by mentors. They will learn how to define an unmet need, develop an innovative solution, deliver a validated product, and deploy it in market. Interactive FAQ sessions with domain experts and story-telling by successful innovators will enrich the learning experience and create a friendly network to access in the future.

The BETiC network now comprises 14 institutes across Maharashtra, the latest one being the GH Raisoni College of Engineering, Nagpur on 28 July 2019. Other engineering partners include KJSCE Mumbai, COE Pune, MIT-ADT Pune, SIU Pune and VNIT Nagpur. Medical partners include JJMC & GDCH Mumbai, HITRT Mumbai, MGMIHS Sanpada, BJMC Pune, BKLWRH Dervan and DMIMS Wardha.

Prof. B. Ravi, Founder of BETiC, said, “Since the first MEDIC in September 2015, BETiC partner institutes have brought together more than one hundred doctors and engineers every year to explore medical device innovation. These centers enable quickly traversing the ‘valleys of death’ from idea to invention to innovation to impact. In the last four years, team members have filed 50 patents, incubated 12 startup companies, and licensed 5 products to industry. The Camp allows us to share the best practices of how to define, develop, deliver and deploy innovative medical devices.”

This camp is meant for working professionals including innovators, entrepreneurs, mentors, innovation managers and faculty guiding med-tech projects. Recent winners of any innovation event, including MEDHA (Medical Device Hackathon), BIG (Biotechnology Ignition Grant), IIGP (India Innovation Growth Programme) and GYTI (Gandhian Young Technological Innovation) can also utilize the 5-day camp to accelerate their innovation journey in healthcare field.

Participants will form 15 teams- each team will have members from four streams

a. Medical (biomedical, medicine, dental, physiotherapy or Ayush)
b. Design (industrial design, product design, graphic design or visual arts)
c. Engineering-I (mechanical, materials, production or industrial engineering)
d. Engineering-II (electronics, electrical, computer science or info tech).

There is no age limit. Previous participants have come from all corners of India.

On the first day of the Camp, participants view curated videos of unsolved medical problems- also called unmet clinical needs. They form teams and select projects. On the second day, they brainstorm, select ideas, sketch concepts, and start fabricating proof-of-concept. On the third day, they learn about manufacturing, testing, validating and certifying medical devices. On the fourth day, they learn how to draft patents, evolve business models, create effective presentations and practice pitching to investors. On the final day, the teams present their proof-of-concept to an expert jury panel for critical feedback about the problem and the solution.

Several participants of previous MEDIC camps have gone on to incubate their own startup companies for commercializing their innovations. Adarsha is the founder of one such startup called Ayu Device, which makes smart stethoscope modules to convert conventional stethoscopes into digital devices along with sound enhancement, noise cancellation, data visualization, storage and sharing capabilities. Their team has already sold several hundred units to primary health centers and telemedicine companies.

Adarsha said, “Our journey started with MEDIC in September 2015, when we discovered the unmet clinical need of remote auscultation (a doctor listening to the chest sounds of a patient who is far away). The Camp helped in finding compatible partners, developing a proof-of-concept within four days, and obtaining valuable feedback from senior doctors. In any other setting, this could have taken us weeks or months. Soon after, we joined BETiC, developed and tested our product, received BIRAC BIG award, and started Ayu Devices. Senior mentors of BETiC, especially Prof. Ravi and Dr. Rupesh guided us in every step of our journey."

Participation in MEDIC is by invitation only. Interested participants need to pre-register at betic.org website before 28 August 2019 and will be selected based on their biodata and portfolio of projects. There is a registration fee of Rs. 4500 to cover basic costs, and accommodation (to be paid separately by the participants) can be reserved in the guest house of IIT-B for those who register before the deadline.

Winners have a chance to develop their ideas further at any of the BETiC centers and start their companies at any suitable incubator including SINE, IIT Bombay or Venture Centre, Pune, who are partners for the Camp.

More Information - View PDF

New CPAP Device among Ideas developed at MEDHA Hackathon by BETiC-IIT Bombay

The Medical Device Hackathon (MEDHA) at Haffkine Institute for Training, Research and Testing during the weekend of 13-14 July came alive with 10 teams developing proofs-of-concept of novel medical devices and presenting them to a jury of senior doctors and engineers.

Each team had 4 members with medical, design, mechanical and electronics backgrounds. The hackathon was organized by the Biomedical Engineering & Technology innovation Centre (BETiC), IIT Bombay in collaboration with BETiC cells of KJ Somaiya College of Engineering and MGM Institute of Health Sciences, Navi Mumbai.

[caption id="attachment_131938" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] Students brainstorming to generate ideas at-MEDHA-2019 an initiative by BETiC( Biomedical-Engineering-and-Technology-innovation Centre) at Haffkine Institute[/caption]

These 40 participants were shortlisted from over 140 applicants. They selected problems of interest to them, from a list of 20 unmet clinical needs put forth by medical professionals. The key solutions presented included a 15-second pH measurement device (as against the conventional 2 hours), a new CPAP device for sleep apnea that provides a valve to release air pressure, and a portable device that can be taken to an accident venue to measure the stump for below-the-knee amputation.

Other problems addressed were measurement of CPR effectiveness, Intelligent OT lightening system, de-fogger for laparoscopic cameras, single-step blood glucose monitoring, cleaning of voice prosthesis in laryngectomy cases and clubfoot deformity measurement.

Senior innovators of BETiC continuously mentored the participants through day and night of the hackathon, which started on Saturday morning and concluded on Sunday evening. The prizes were given away by Dr. Nishigandha Naik, Director of Haffkine Institute and Prof. B. Ravi, founder of BETiC.

Dr. Nishigandha Naik said that “The participants had only 24 hours to come up with new ideas to solve the clinical problems. Going by the highly encouraging and positive comments of the jury members, the results are truly remarkable."

Dr. Rupesh Ghyar, SEO of BETiC mentioned that “The participants faced three uncertainties: what is the problem; which team members they will work with; and what tools will be available. MEDHA exemplifies the close collaboration between doctors and engineers that can produce great results within a short period."

The proof-of-concept along with formulated prototypes was presented before a panel of jury members comprising Dr. Chivate, Dr. Nitin Mahajan, Dr. Prashant Howal, Dr. RG Karndikar, Dr. Usha Sharma, Dr. Neelam Shirsat, Dr. Sarda Menon, Dr. Rajani Mullerpatan, Dr. Ramesh Lekurwale, Mr. Rajesh Patil, Mr. Ramesh Pudale, and Ms. Reeta Gupta.

Prof. B. Ravi, founder of BETiC, shared that "This is the 9th MEDHA organized by BETiC. We are honoured to partner with Haffkine Institute, which is setting up a BETiC cell under an MoU signed in the presence of honourable CM of Maharashtra. With 14 centres across the state, BETiC has become a large network of medical device innovation centres."

During award acceptance speeches one of the participants exclaimed: "It is said that if we want to go fast, we should go alone; to go farther, we should go together. However, the MEDHA experience shows that is possible to go both faster and farther."

BETiC Biomedical Engineering and Technology (innovation) Centre is located at IIT Bombay, with satellite centres in four engineering colleges (VNIT Nagpur, COE Pune, KJSCE Mumbai, MIT-ADT Pune) and three medical institutes (MGMIHS Sanpada, DMIMS Wardha, BKLWH Dervan). The initiative is envisioned and supported by RGSTC, Govt. of Maharashtra, Mumbai and DST, New Delhi, to accelerate indigenous development of affordable medical devices suitable for local manufacture and use.

The Haffkine Institute for Training, Research and Testing is located in Parel in Mumbai (Bombay), India. It was established on 10 August 1899 by Dr. Waldemar Mordechai Wolff Haffkine - a bacteriologist from the Russian Empire. Dr. Haffkine has been instrumental in finding a vaccine for the bubonic plague that had proven to be more difficult than for cholera. The Haffkine Institute is one of the oldest biomedical research institutes in the country.

BETiC IIT-Bombay Launches Medical Device Hackathon - MEDHA 2019

Since 2014, the Biomedical Engineering and Technology incubation Centre (BETiC) at IIT Bombay, COE Pune, and VNIT Nagpur have brought doctors and engineers together to ensure low-cost medical innovation and impact.

The cycle of innovation begins with a number of medical problems proposed by doctors and novel ideas generated by the inter-disciplinary teams of innovators at MEDHA - Medical Device Hackathon. Here, participants watch curated videos of clinical problems and team up to create solutions. Each team comprises of doctors, designers, and engineers (mechanical and electronics). They brainstorm, sketch and create innovative fabricated prototypes. All
teams presenting working prototypes receive prizes. Top innovators win a chance to acquire advanced training and a fellowship where their ideas can then be materialized. Until now, 8 MEDHA Hackathons have been conducted in various cities across Maharashtra.

This year, BETiC has collaborated with the Haffkine Institute of Testing, Research & Training in Mumbai, Venture Centre in Pune and G.H. Raisoni College of Engineering in Nagpur to host MEDHA on separate weekends in July.

"MEDHA brings together doctors who pose unmet needs and engineers who are keen to work in the healthcare field. They work continuously over a weekend to create proofs-of-concept of novel medical devices for diagnosis or treatment. These ideas can be taken forward at various BETiC centers or other interested institutes to develop the products and take them to the market through a startup company or licensing to industry. In the last four years, our team members filed 50 patents and licensed 12 of them to startups and the industry. Many of these
ideas originated in MEDHA,” says Prof. B. Ravi, the Founder of BETiC.

Interested candidates are required to pre-register before the 25th of June 2019 on the BETiC website by uploading their bio-data and portfolio of creative work, based on which they will be short-listed, interviewed and selected. Selected candidates are required to pay a non-refundable fee of Rs. 1000.

For registrations and more information, visit www.betic.in - opportunities - MEDHA 2019 in order to pre-register and opt for the location. Details of the selection process will be communicated via E-mail.
Write to: events@betic.org for additional details.

Haffkine Institute and IIT-Bombay's BETiC Join Hands to Promote Medical Device Innovation

Mumbai-based Haffkine Institute of Training, Research & Testing with 120 years of biomedical expertise is partnering with IIT Bombay with 60 years of engineering excellence to establish a Biomedical Engineering & Technology incubation Centre (BETiC) at Haffkine campus in Parel.

The MoU was exchanged on 11 Feb 2019 at Sahyadri Guest House, Mumbai in the presence of Hon'ble CM of Maharashtra, Shri Devendra Fadnavis and Minister of Medical Education, Shri Girish Mahajan; facilitated by Dr. Anand Bang, Honorary Advisor-Health, to the CM. The Haffkine Institute was represented by its Director Dr. Nishigandha Naik and IIT Bombay was represented by Prof. B. Ravi, Head, Biomedical Engineering & Technology incubation Centre (BETiC).

"The presence of leading hospitals in Parel, including Tata Memorial Hospital, King Edward Memorial Hospital and Bai Jerbai Wadia Hospital for Children will enable better identification of unmet clinical needs as well as quicker feedback on devices during their development. An interdisciplinary team of doctors and engineers will develop innovative medical devices suitable for local population, in the proposed center," shared Dr. Nishigandha Naik, Director of Haffkine Institute.

The partners are planning a Medical Device Hackathon (MEDHA) in the month of March to kick-start the activities by bringing doctors, engineers, and other stakeholders together. "The hackathon will help us curate the unmet clinical needs and identify committed innovators to take it forward. Previous MEDHA at partner institutes have been very successful in sensitizing the participants about the importance and process of med-tech innovation," said Prof. B. Ravi.

A brainstorming meeting was held at Haffkine Institute on 13th Feb 2019 with clinicians from local hospitals to get their views about the proposed innovation center and to identify the problems to be taken up at the next hackathon.

"Another MoU has been signed with the Medical Education and Drug Department of Government of Maharashtra to establish BETIC cells in three government hospitals – B.J. Government Medical College & Sassoon General Hospital, Pune; Grant Government Medical College and JJ Hospital, Mumbai; and Government Dental College & Hospital, Mumbai," Prof. Ravi added. These efforts will accelerate indigenous medical device innovation leading to affordable healthcare.

BeTIC, which is jointly funded by the State Government of Maharashtra (Rajiv Gandhi S&T Commission) and Central Government of India (Department of S&T), New Delhi, is mainly located in IIT Bombay, and two sub-centers are established at VNIT, Nagpur and COE, Pune. Each centre is headed by a senior faculty member.

 

Member of Parliament Invites IIT-Bombay BETiC for Low-Cost Medical Device Camps in Adopted Villages

It was in May last year when Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited startups in India to focus on research for innovative medical devices and use technology to make healthcare more affordable.

Going in line with this, BETiC (Biomedical Engineering & Technology incubation Center) of IIT Bombay, which has 13 innovation centers across the country, has now created 40 different novel and affordable medical devices.

16 such stories are chronicled in Prof B Ravi’s book ‘The Essence of Medical Device Innovation’, published by The Write Place', a division of Crossword Bookstores.

[caption id="attachment_127649" align="aligncenter" width="800"] At the launch of the second edition of 'The Essence of Medical Device Innovation' at Crossword Bookstore Kemps corner[/caption]

The book became the subject of a discussion between Prof B Ravi- Head of BETiC, IIT-B and Mynoo Maryel- Convenor of World Dignity Forum. BETiC is supported by the Government of Maharashtra and Central Govt of India.

Hon. Lok Sabha MP Poonam Mahajan- National President of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha presided over the same.

The session revolved around the theme of ‘Low-cost medical devices for a billion Indians’ and was moderated by Vithal Nadkarni, Senior Consultant of Times of India.

“At BETiC, we make the journey form idea, to innovation to testing to impact”, said Prof Ravi. “Our experience at BETiC shows that this is now possible in India - thanks to the market pull by doctors, technology push by researchers and conducive environment created by the government for entrepreneurs”

Some of these products are-

1. The smart stethoscope (Ayulink) - This allows doctors in a remote place to record and send heart or chest sounds to experts in tertiary hospitals for second opinion and diagnosis.The first batch of these stethoscopes has been given to 10 PHCs in Bhavnagar.



2. Diabetic Foot Screener - India has 60 million diabetics and every year, over 1 lac people undergo amputation. BETiC has developed the 'diabetic foot screener', which helps healthcare workers in far-flung locations to prevent long-term ulceration and amputation among patients.The device detects the stiffness of the tissues on the sole of feet, and the patient is placed in green, yellow and red risk zones. Treatment is suggested accordingly.Rural health care workers can be trained to use it.



3. The Hybrid plaster splint- This is a simple formulation to to hold injured body parts together after an accident to prevent further damage during transport to the hospital and can be used in the remotest of villages.

In less than four years, BETiC (Biomedical Engineering and Technology incubation Centre) has grown to 13 centres across the state, where more than 100 doctors and engineers are working together closely to solve the healthcare problems of a billion people.

“I have realised in my 12 years of my career as a politician that content and confidence is more vital than anything else. Innovation and failure is a part of learning. 30 km away from Mumbai, near Palghar, are essentially tribal areas. My team and I have been working on making them sustainable,” said Poonam Mahajan, Lok Sabha MP, inviting BETiC to run pilots in her adopted villages of Charoti and Vaghadi.

"Low cost medical device innovation, can provide full spectrum wellness and therefore dignity. Dignity is key to any nation’s development ” added Mynoo Maryel, Convenor of the World Dignity Forum.

“Greatness is excellence divided by ego,” added Prof Ravi, much to the crowd’s delight.

Deftly guided by the moderator Vithal Nadkarni, the discussion brought out experiential elements like ‘dealing with failure’, ‘ creating inspired teams’ and “being able to add value” while doing one’s job. “Put the patient at the centre of your focus, and everything else will take care of itself,” summed up Prof Ravi.

“Usually people talk about a product or an innovation from the manufacturer and the packaging point of view. But today we have individuals from different ends of the spectrum. One who creates and imagines the innovation, and one who can take it to the people,” surmised Vithal Nadkarni, Senior Consultant, TOI.

Prof. Ravi had also gifted a copy of the book to Honourable PM Shri Modi during his visit to IIT-Bombay for the Diamond Jubilee Convocation on 11th August. The PM gracefully autographed a copy, much to the delight of BETiC team.

It may also be recalled that, the Government of India and the World Bank have had signed a $125 million loan agreement to support India in developing an innovative biopharmaceutical and medical devices industry and support Government of India’s Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Program (BIRAC). BIRAC was set up five years ago to support innovative start-ups and collaborations through strategic partnerships.