Low-cost test kits and drones among key IIT innovations

NEWDELHI: Low-cost portable ventilators, affordable Covid-19 test kits, drones for sanitisation, specialised digital stethoscopes and “infection-proof fabric” for hospitals -- these are among key innovations by IITS across the country which are ready to hit the market.

The innovations were developed by the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITS) during the last three months when the country was hit by the pandemic. The key innovations have taken commercial route either through IIT-INcubated startups or the premier institutes have given license to companies keeping the patent rights with themselves.

IIT Delhi, which became the first academic institute to get a nod from the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) for its Covid-19 test kit, has given nonexclusive open licence to Bengaluru-based biotechnology firm Genie Laboratories for commercialising the test, but with a price rider of Rs 500 per kit.

The kits, being manufactured at the Andhra Pradesh Medtech Zone (AMTZ) in Vishakhapatnam, are expected to be available in the market in the next 10 days.

“Over 40 companies, including a few big names, have reached out to us to commercialise the test. We will be giving open licences to companies which meet the quality criterion set by us and set a price rider so that companies do not hike the price once commercialised. We have chosen Genie laboratories as the first one, but there will be more companies too,” IIT Delhi Director V Ramgopal told PTI. According to the IIT Delhi team, the current testing methods available are “probebased” while the one developed by the IIT team is a “probe-free” method, which reduces the testing cost without compromising on accuracy. Another innovation by the institute, an “infectionproof fabric” to prevent hospitalacquired infections (HAIS) is being sent to various hospitals in Delhi and NCR in the form of bed sheets, curtains and uniforms by an incubated startup called “Fabiosys Innovations”.

“We take rolls of cotton fabric and treat it with a set of proprietary-developed chemicals under a set of particular reaction conditions, using the machinery already commonly available in textile industries. The fabric, after undergoing these processes, gains the powerful antimicrobial functionality,” said Samrat Mukhopadhyay, a professor at IITDelhi. “Even after washing multiple times, it does not lose its functionality. This fabric can be stitched into various articles such as bedsheets, the uniforms for patients even curtains,” he added.