Healthcare solutions at Techfest

Innovative and implementable solutions on critical problems related to healthcare and rural life dominated the competitions on second day of IIT Bombay's Techfest. The three-day (January 22-24) annual science and technology festival is in association with DNA.

“Prayaas”, a contest focuses on generating real-life solutions, included two special competitions this year. “Elixir” focused on biomedical designs and “Utkarsh” seeked rural and agricultural solutions.

Students from the mechanical engineering department of PSG College of Technology (Coimbatore) bagged the first prize at Elixir for designing an infant ventilator.

“There are no manufacturers in India for infant ventilators. India imports infant ventilators currently and they cost Rs 4.5 lakh. Our machine brings down the cost by 50 per cent. It can be used for new born babies to 16-year-olds,”  said I Thangamariappan, team member.

Another innovation, a low-cost biosensor, won the second prize at Elixir. “We have developed a biosensor which detects the enzyme levels in the blood. The instrument which is available in the market costs approximately Rs 3.5 to 4 lakh. It is also very big and cannot be carried easily to the place of application," said Dhruv Chachad from Sinhgad College of Engineering (Pune).

Elaborating on the instrument designed by his team, Chachad said that their instrument is very small and easily portable.

“Our machine costs only Rs 1,500. We’re now hoping that our innovation gets accepted by the industry. Biosensors are very crucial as any variance in the enzyme levels indicate heart or liver diseases. So it’s important that we have low-cost solutions available,” he said.

Selected innovations from the two competitions will be exhibited at Techfest today.  Debasish Panda from Trident Academy of Technology (Bhubaneswar) was given the third prize at Elixir.

“We have designed a steriliser system that purifies the air in a closed area like hospitals, houses and offices among others. The current sterilisers available in the market cost up to Rs60,000. But our machine costs between Rs 7,000-8,000," said Panda.

Meanwhile, at Utkarsh, the designs showcased made an attempt to either avoid the current drudgery faced by the Indian villagers in their day-to-day activities or increase the efficiency of farming procedures.

“Our project is focuses towards alternative fuel sources, particularly for cooking purposes. The two machines we displayed help make alternative fuels without the use of electricity,” said Srinivas Rajaram, an IIT Bombay student, one of the winners of Utkarsh.

The field work was done in Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan and the team is going to patent their innovation.