High-quality, low-cost indigenous medical devices created at IIT-B lab

In the backdrop of the Make in India initiative, a host of researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, (IIT-B), are collaborating with expert doctors from local hospitals to develop indigenous medical devices.

In the backdrop of the Make in India initiative, a host of researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, (IIT-B), are collaborating with expert doctors from local hospitals to develop indigenous medical devices.

A-tissue-stiffness-measuring-device-used-to-diagnose-vulnerability-to-the-diabetic-foot-condition-being-tested-at-MGM-Hospital-Vashi-Photo-BETiC

A multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional Biomedical Engineering and Technology Incubation Centre (BETiC) set up in IIT-B is converting innovative ideas from doctors into high-quality, low-cost medical devices, specifically designed for the Indian population.

Two engineering institutes — namely, College of Engineering Pune and Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur – are also part of BETiC.

The teams have biomedical, mechanical, materials, electronics and software engineers collaboratively working on medical devices ranging from diagnostic to surgical instruments and even mobile-based software.

As part of its collaborative efforts, the teams have created a tissue stiffness measuring device that can be used to diagnose vulnerability to the diabetic foot condition, which could result in amputation of foot, if undiagnosed and untreated.

A prototype of the device is ready and a patent application has been filed.

“This would be the first-of- its-kind wireless device that would be available to clinicians. There are similar devices globally, but they are restricted to research labs,” said Dr Rajani Mullerpatan of MGM Hospital, Vashi, who collaborated with IIT-B on creating the device.

Another device that is almost completed is a multi-degree freedom laparoscope for minimally invasive surgeries in the abdominal cavity. This novel instrument developed in collaboration with Dr Suresh Deshpande, an internationally acclaimed laparoscopy surgeon from Kolhapur, provides an additional degree of manoeuvrability, reducing the risk of tissue damage and makes operating easy for surgeons.