The contagious COVID-19 outbreak has caused a catastrophic effect around the world. Countries are struggling to control and contain the spread of this disease. India, with its massive population, is making the best efforts to fight against the COVID-19 virus. The 21 day lockdown period has not locked down the creative minds of the researchers and engineers of our country. India supports all forms of innovations in the diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and spread of COVID-19.

We keep hearing many heart-touching stories of researchers and doctors working to combat this dreadful disease. Here is a gist of what the innovation community of India is up to and how our Government supports them.

Innovations across the Country

Triple-Layered Anti-infectious Gloves

About 8.3% of the total cases in Italy are health workers who treat and take care of infected people. A team of Indian youngsters from Viral Brain System have realized the seriousness of this issue and have designed triple-layered gloves that are anti-infectious. The gloves not only protect the user’s hands but also disinfect everything the personal touches while wearing the gloves. These gloves, once opened, can be used for a maximum period of three days. The inner and outer layers of the gloves are made of latex, while the middle layer contains the sanitizer or any disinfecting chemical. The prototype is in testing and can be expected in the market soon.

Anti-bacterial Clothing

Thermaissance, a startup from the GTU-incubation center, has come up with specially designed anti-bacterial clothing for hospital staff. The innovation makes use of nano silver-based technology that is capable of destroying both positive and harmful bacteria. This reduces the risk of exposure and spread of diseases among hospital staffs that are in close contact with the COVID-19 infected people. They have also come up with cheap, anti-bacterial masks tested in a NABL accredited laboratory in Mumbai for their authenticity. The masks offer 99% protection from germs even after 60 washes.

Colour-changing Mask

A three-layered color-changing mask to detect the presence of the COVID-19 virus is at the concept stage of innovation by the Babaria Institute of Pharmacy. The mask prevents the entry of Coronavirus and also acts as an indicator when exposed to the virus. The membranous layers of the mask consist of enzymes and chemical reagents that can copy DNA to RNA. When the mask comes in contact with Coronavirus particles, the mask constituents react with the virus and form a solid pink color. The change in color will indicate exposure to the virus.

3-D Printed Toothbrush

The innovation from the startup, Pragratham, addresses the importance of oral hygiene in the survival rate of corona virus-infected persons. This toothbrush is specially designed for COVID-19 patients in ICU. This open-source design requires a 3-D printer and cotton gauze to construct the toothbrush. It takes an hour and 45 minutes to produce a single 3-D printed toothbrush. The product has received positive feedback when tested.

The Quarantine Watch App

The senior IAS officer Munish Moudgil with his team in Karnataka has launched India’s first unique mobile app to facilitate active tracking of people in quarantine. The application works on both android and iPhone platforms. The home-quarantined person should download the app, fill in essential personal details, and send selfies. The system will identify good resolution selfies, and officials from the District Photo Verification team will check for the originality of the selfie. The application has also enabled GPS tracking to trace their whereabouts effectively.

Online Training Programme

The Karnataka Government has launched a 1.30-2.00 hour training programme to train doctors treating COVID-19 patients. The programme is freely accessible on YouTube. The programme helps doctors to prepare themselves and also teach them on specimen collection and transport, clinical management, and supportive therapy for COVID-19 patients.

Sanitization Units

PadCare Labs, a Pune-based startup, has designed a sanitization unit to disinfect the surface area. The unit working on the principle of UV mechanism can disinfect an area of 80 sq ft with a 99.99% bacterial reduction in 15 minutes. The organization will be installing the units in a local hospital soon.

C-CAMPs Initiatives

The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP) has launched COVID-19 Innovations Deployment Accelerator (CIDA) to identify and support innovations that help in combating Coronavirus. The program has partnered with Social Alpha, United Nations Health Innovation Exchange (UNHIE), India2022 Xynteo, India Health Fund, MedTechConnect, AIC-CCMB, and CCMB to select innovations and develop them to large scale applications. The companies with projects towards the following criteria were nominated for funding.

Preventative Measures

Anabio Technologies Pvt Ltd works on innovating new preventative technologies that offer better protection than the existing ones. The technology from this company aims to transform a mask or a regular cotton cloth into a protective agent against Coronavirus. This technology will work on meeting the needs of N95 masks and other personal protective equipment.

Diagnostics

There is a rising need in India to perform mass-testing to identify and isolate people infected with COVID-19. CoSara Diagnostics Pvt Ltd and Ampligene Diagnostics Pvt Ltd are working on developing easy-to-use, affordable, quick, and accurate diagnostic technologies.

Respiratory Devices

5-10% of the Indian population will require ICU in the event of community spread in India. There is a rising need for invasive and non-invasive respirators to treat critically ill patients. US FDA has approved the use of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure machines (CPAP) to meet the scarcity of ventilators. Coeo Labs and Avyantra are working on innovations in the mass production of respirators to achieve this scenario.

Many such innovations are going around in the nook and corner of our country to fight back COVID-19. Our Government has also launched several incubation programmes to encourage innovators working on combating this dreadful disease. The active contribution from young entrepreneurs and researchers is inevitable to serve our country during this massive health crisis.

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