Startup develops non-invasive device for anaemia-related tests

A city-based health startup has developed a non-invasive and non-contact portable device for pathological tests to treat anaemia, its founder said.

The hand-held device developed by EzeRx HealthTech can measure bilirubin levels, haemoglobin concentration and oxygen saturation without taking blood from the human body, founder and CEO Partha Pratim Das Mahapatra told PTI.

It can be used for qualitative and quantitative measurement within 1-1.5 seconds at the cost of within Re 1, he claimed.

The cost of traditional invasive haemoglobin and bilirubin tests vary between Rs 200 and Rs 300.

"Currently, we have completed large-scale validation using our initial model with 97 per cent accuracy. Now, we are in the phase of completing our second version of the devise, which is completely portable, and easy to handle and operate.

"The National Anaemia Mission has selected our product and it is under trial," the 28-year-old Mahapatra said.

The five-phase trial has already been carried out in two cities, he said.

"We are in advanced stage of dialogue for tie-ups with Tripura and Himachal Pradesh," the CEO said.

The startup has also been selected as first runner-up in the recently-concluded 7th edition of the Tata Social Enterprise Challenge 2018-19, a joint initiative of the Tata Group and the Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta, he said.

EzeRx HealthTech estimates that two billion people or nearly 30 per cent of the world population is currently anaemic.

Of these, women of reproductive age and pregnant or breast-feeding women, and children are the most vulnerable.

The devise will cost around Rs 1.5 lakh and be IoT-enabled for use from anywhere, Mahapatra said.