Developed at a cost of Rs 5,000, the prototype will help doctors monitor rural patients' vital signs for diagnosis
Four final year electronics and telecommunication students of Vivekanand Education Society's Institute of Technology (VESIT) - Ashni Damania, Laveena Dulani, Preksha Goyal and Rahul Goswami - have gone beyond textbooks to develop a prototype – the remote patient health monitoring system - that will help doctors monitor rural patients' vital signs to facilitate better diagnosis.
What started out as a final year project for the fabulous four, may now turn into something that could boost rural healthcare in the region. The students pooled resources to come up with the seed money of Rs 5,000. The group also brainstormed and came up with suggestions to enhance the device's functioning.
"A sensor will be attached to a patient's finger to monitor and record vital signs like blood pressure, heart rate and temperature. The data recorded can be accessed by the doctor through the use of a computer or mobile device in another location," said Damania.
The students developed the prototype under the guidance of their professor Dr Nadir Charniya.
"We advise students to observe nature closely. We also encourage them to develop a prototype that can benefit society at large," Dr Charniya said. Though the four students have graduated, the next batch will take over from them and add features like an ECG to the device. "Once we add those features, we will approach the industry to commercialise the project," he added.
VESIT encourages its students to focus on the Internet of Things (IoT). IoT usually refers to scenarios where network connectivity and computing capability extends to sensors, objects and other items not necessarily considered computers. It allows the devices to generate, exchange and consume data with little human intervention as possible.
"We can add a camera to the set up, thereby allowing the doctor to see the patient. All forms of data - pictures or audio - can be sent across using the device," said Damania.
It will take another year or two to fully develop the prototype for the market, but college authorities are happy that their students are thinking outside the box to come up with inventions that could have a significant impact on society.
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