Anupath: A diabetic's device to deal with the disease more effectively

Vinay Kumar, a chronic diabetic living on the insulin pump, is helping early detection and complete management of diabetes through his novel invention, AnuPath

In 1997, when Vinay Kumar was just 14, his mother noticed he was steadily losing weight. At first, he was given the colourful tablets that the village quack sold on his bicycle. But as his condition deteriorated, Kumar was advised to be taken to the district hospital in Shamli, a two-and-a-half-hour journey by bus from his village in Uttar Pradesh’s Fatehpur district.

The high-school student was diagnosed with diabetes with a blood glucose level of 465 mg/dl -- over thrice the normal reading of 140 mg/dl. The doctor advised that he be taken off school, as the diabetes was so severe that he could faint and slip into coma anytime. 

But Kumar’s mother thought otherwise. It was purely because of her determination, he says, that he completed his high school and graduation. He then went on to do his MSc from Kurukshetra University before landing in Bengaluru to complete his PhD from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc).

It was at IISc that Kumar found his calling in 2012, after meeting Professor Navakanta Bhat, to develop a novel technology for diabetes management and the detection of its complications. This is where the seeds of PathShodh were sown in 2015, a start-up incubated at the Society for Innovation and Development (SID) at IISc.

Kumar who equates diabetes with a slow poison that starts affecting every organ of the human body, including kidney, heart, and brain, went on to invent a hand-held device for overall diabetes management with Prof Bhat, called AnuPath. Based on sensing chemistry, this device can carry out five types of blood tests and three urine tests related to diabetes, kidney malfunction, anaemia and malnutrition. 

Unlike the Glucometer, AnuPath not only reads the instant blood sugar but can also probe the patient’s diabetic history for up to 90 days, to facilitate better management of the sugar level.

“Instant blood glucose reading using the Glucometer is not as important as overall control. A momentary increase in blood glucose could be due to stress or food eaten just before the test. Hence, overall control is what matters,” says Kumar, who has so far taken over 30,000 shots of insulin. He is currently relying on the insulin pump after collapsing at least thrice due to high blood sugar, and ending up in the ICU.

Since 50 per cent of kidney failures are related to diabetes in India, the device can also detect early leakage of micro-albuminuria, creatinine and ACR (albumin-to-creatinine ratio) in the urine, and delay the need for kidney transplant by as many as 20 years.

“The device, which costs around Rs 50,000, can carry out the blood and urine tests at a cost which is 80 per cent cheaper when compared with the pathology labs,” claims Kumar, who went on to become an 'MIT Technology Review Innovator Under 35' in 2017.

PathShodh has already filed 11 patents in India, the United States, UK and China and is waiting for a European approval to enter the market next year. It has got its first big order from Tata Trusts of 50 devices to screen the population in Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring states. 

The company would also be coming up with a smaller version of AnuPath for home diagnosis, which could cost around Rs 8,000. The clinical trials are on and the device is expected to hit the market by 2019.

“PathShodh's strong novel chemistry and a more apt perspective at diabetes management has made it a very interesting start-up to work with,” says C S Murali, chairman, STEM, SID, IISc. “SID has always had its doors open to Indian entrepreneurs who want to look at an industry/sector with a new outlook or perspective to generate a sizeable societal impact."