IIT Kharagpur designs low-cost device for blood tests

Kolkata: Researchers from IIT-Kharagpur have developed a low-cost diagnostic device which can perform various pathological tests by using blood taken from a fingerprick, said a statement issued by the institute.

The team led by Professor Suman Chakraborty from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at IIT-Kgp has adopted this detection method which requires only a paper strip based kit integrated with a smartphone for analytics and readout functions, and an LED light for imaging.

"Compared to other reported portable devices for haemoglobin estimation, this device is implementable without any trained personnel at resource-limited settings and provides quantitative results comparable to pathological results," said Chakraborty.

Clinical tests have been conducted for blood glucose and haemoglobin at laboratories and in the field with limited healthcare facilities.

"We have tested it in extreme challenging environments with uncontrolled dirt, dust and humidity, and in the absence of structured clinics or air-conditioned pathological laboratories," said Dr Satadal Saha, a medical entrepreneur and visiting professor at IIT-Kgp. Saha along with Prof. Chakraborty led the joint team for field work.

(With inputs from Indian Express)