The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati has established the ICMR-DHR Centre of Excellence for Biomedical Device and Diagnostics Innovation and Commercialization to address rural India’s technological needs, with a focus on healthcare delivery to the last-mile population. Professors, researchers, entrepreneurs, doctors, and students from various departments will collaborate under a single umbrella to instil research in the domain of healthcare innovation, in accordance with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
Primary objective to establish the centres
Detecting biomarkers using microfluidic and semiconductor nanobiosensors to detect various noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as chronic kidney disease, post-diabetic complications, liver or pancreatic malfunctions, cardiac illnesses, and urinary tract infections are among the primary goals. It also intends to create low-cost point-of-care diagnostic devices for data collection, storage, security, and analysis in rural India.
The initiative has been led by the departments of chemistry, chemical engineering, biosciences and bioengineering, electronics and electrical engineering, and design and mathematics, among others.
Cater societal needs related to diagnostics and healthcare delivery
Elaborating on the critical work underway ICMR Mission Secretariat at IIT Guwahati, Prof TG Sitharam, Director, IIT Guwahati, said, “The translational innovations proposed in the centre are expected to cater the societal needs related to the diagnostics and healthcare delivery, especially in the rural India.”
Elaborating on the functioning of this Centre, Prof Dipankar Bandyopadhyay, Head, Jyoti and Bhupat Mehta School of Health Sciences and Technology, IIT Guwahati, said, “Cutting-edge scientific inventions are the foundation of all modern-day technologies, which helps in improving the quality of life of a human being in a significant way. However, the benefits of such inventions and innovations are yet to reach the rural population of India. In next few decades, especially keeping the post-pandemic scenario in the perspective, the focus of healthcare innovation would be to develop frugal technologies to cater the needs of
the last mile population.”
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