Cost-Effective Portable Diagnostics

PTI | May 12, 2013, 02.07 PM IST

NEW DELHI: Village folk may soon have access to accurate medical diagnosis at 

their doorstep with a miniaturised pathological laboratory packed into a suitcase

 capable of conducting tests which could lead to early identification of many diseases.

Amit Bhatnagar, an alumnus of IIT-Roorkee who quit a plush job in Hollywood's

 famed Universal Studios, has designed a portable biochemistry laboraotry, which

 comes packed in a suitcase and can perform 23 crucial medical tests including for

 kidney, liver, heart, anaemia, diabetes and arthritis.

The portable lab, which could prove a boon to people staying in remote areas that

 have little access to diagnostics which results in several diseases remaining

 undetected, was launched by Science and Technology Minister S Jaipal Reddy

 yesterday.

"It is a complete compact lab in a suitcase with power backup. It has been designed

 to perform 23 vital blood tests for kidney, liver, heart, anaemia, diabetes and

 arthritis accurately, cost-effectively and timely," Bhatnagar said.

The lab, which costs a maximum of Rs 3.5 lakh, includes blood analyzer, centrifuge,

 Micro pipettes, incubator, Laptop with Patient Data Management Software and

 consumables.

"Key advantage of Mobile Lab is in its design, rugged analyser, portability,

 cost effectiveness," Bhatnagar said.

The portable lab is being used by Border Roads Organisation at its dispensaries in

 remote areas of Kargil, Leh, Nagaland, by the Central Reserve Police Force in the

 jungles of Chhattisgarh and various programmes of the National Rural Health

 Mission in Haryana and Kerala on a pilot basis.

"We did a trial for 800-900 people in our dispensaries in remote areas. It has a lot 

of potential for early detection of lifestyle diseases like diabetes, cardiac problems

 and in emergencies," Brigadier S B Mahajan, Deputy Director General, 

Border Roads Organisation said.

Mahajan said the results of the tests performed by the portable lab were validated 

against those done in conventional laboratories and were found to be accurate.

"We have put up a demand for procurement of more such units," he said.

Bhatnagar received a soft loan of up to Rs four crore for developing the lab from

 Technology Development Board of the Government of India.

He raised an additional Rs four crore from various other resources. Bhatnagar

 did his B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT, Roorkee and went to the 

Pennsylvania State University in the US to complete his Masters in Biomedical 

Engineering.

He joined as a business consultant at the Universal Studios, where he analysed 

consumer trends for products of the Hollywood major. 

But homeland beckoned him and the stint in Hollywood was cut short after nine

 months.

Back in Delhi, he and his technology partners at IIT Delhi decided to take on the

 problem faced by nearly 70 per cent of villages in the country which did not have

 access to accurate diagnosis.

The 'lab in a suitcase' was a fruit of the efforts put in by Bhatnagar and his 

collaborators at IIT-Delhi.