Opto Circuits expands reach for sensors

Opto Circuits India Ltd, Bangalore-headquartered sensors maker, aims to expand its reach in West Asia, Europe and South America, for its SpO2 range of sensors.

The company informed the Bombay Stock Exchange it has set up offices in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Chile and Germany to distribute the products.

These sensors are used to determine oxygen level in blood, from newborn babies to adults. The sensors use light of pre-selected wavelengths to provide estimates of oxyhaemoglobin (SpO2). They can be clipped on fingers, or on to ears or tied as wrist bands.

The SpO2 sensors were approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the US, where Mediaid Inc., a wholly-owned Opto Circuits subsidiary sells them.

Mediaid was formerly the patients monitoring systems division of US-based Palco Labs, which Opto Circuits acquired for $1.5 m in 2002.

Much of the $500 million demand for the sensors, one patent for which ended last year, comes from the US market. The expiry of the patent has helped players such as Opto Circuits enter this market.

Opto Circuits, in competition with multinational companies like GE Healthcare and Philips, would leverage its domain expertise and the lower cost of production here: The company aimed to get between 5 per cent and 10 per cent of the US market for the sensors, representing up to Rs 150 crore in revenues over the next 18 months to two years, Vinod Ramnani, the company's CEO told analysts recently.