Tackling Covid with touchless ID scanner and health monitor

Among these, 6 products were supervised by the Bengaluru Bio-Innovation Center (BBC) under the aegis of Karnataka Innovation and Technology Society (KITS), and 16 products were supervised by  Karnataka Start-up Cell, KITS, Department of Electronics, IT, BT, and S&T. 

EV Ramana Reddy, Additional Chief Secretary to the Department of Electronics and IT-BT,  and Chairman, BBC,  said the department had provided all possible help to get these products developed. 

Jitendra Kumar, Managing Director of BBC, said it  was committed to providing all support such as infrastructure/equipment, funding, mentorship, networking and branding support to the innovators. 

Anita Gupta, Head, National Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) and Advisor, DST, Government of India, Meena Nagaraj CN, Director, Electronics, IT & Bt, and MD, KITS, were present on the occasion. 

MoU with IIT-SINE, Mumbai 

The occasion also saw the signing of an MoU between IIT-SINE, Mumbai, and BBC. Prof Santosh Gharpure, IIT-SINE, said, “The expertise and capabilities of mature Incubators like IIT-SINE in facilitating funding and technical help will open up a co-incubation model and help IIT-SINE innovators to access the mature ecosystem of Bengaluru through BBC.” 

KITS selections 

KITS launched a ‘Combat Covid19 Challenge’ for innovators and received 356 applications across 3 phases. After a thorough evaluation process, 16 products were selected. The following incentives were offered to the 16 start-ups : 

1. Free incubation for six months in K-tech incubation centre wherever feasible 

2. Free access to CiF for 2 months to build prototypes 

3. Free stall in the innovation zone during Bengaluru Tech summit on the startup day 

4. Access for pilots wherever possible 

5. Structured mentoring through CoE or Ecosystem Partners 

6. Delegate pass and access to Bengaluru Tech Summit 

Products launched by BBC 

1. NucleoDx RT: It is a simple and cost-effective method of RNA isolation to be used in RT- PCR for the detection of Covid-19.  

2. CoviDx mPlex 3R and 4R: It is an in-vitro RT-PCR qualitative assay for the detection of Covid-19 utilizing three and four genes identification.  

3. Dr Tapaman: This device measures the body temperature as a symptom for Covid-19. Unlike a similar device in the market, it doesn’t have a trigger but a switch, is lighter in weight, and does not emit radiation.  

4. SAFAE Biosecurity Solutions: This tunnel provides for automated temperature scanner, blood oxygen level check, mask detection, automated hand wash, complete disinfection of body, clothes and luggage, in addition to contact tracing of people within the location of the installation.  

5. UVEE beamer: The device eliminates germs by denaturing their DNA within 30 seconds and is unmanned with 360 degrees UV exposure. 

6. UVEE conveyor: The device is an enclosed moving belt with a UVC system that kills germs on objects of varying sizes and will be most useful in big commercial spaces. 

Products launched by Karnataka Start-Up Cell 

1. Qonch: It is an IOT-based platform with a smart ID cardholder which makes businesses, schools, colleges, and university to re-open with confidence and implement social distancing norms in real time and contact tracing in case of any breakouts. In addition, the platform enables attendance, geo-fencing, crowd management and asset management. 

2. AMPWORK : This platform enables business, governance, people and healthcare to work together in the pandemic situation. It is already being used in Kodagu and Dharwad districts. 

3. RespirAID: It is a safe, reliable, portable, affordable alternative for prolonged manual ventilation that delivers intermittent positive pressure ventilation with essential ventilator parameters and provides automated respiratory assistance for patients. It can be used during emergency care, transport ventilation and post-operative anaesthesia. 

4. Emvlio: It is a portable medical-grade refrigeration system for the safe transport of biologicals like vaccines, blood and serum that require strict temperature control. The product is now being used by district hospitals in Karnataka and TN for the transport of Covid-19 specimens (nasal and throat swabs). 

5. Pixuate: This is an AI-based software which uses a thermal camera. When placed at the entrance of public places, it can detect the body temperature of people entering the premises without stopping them. This is done at a safe distance of 3-5 metres. Also, the temperature reading of everyone is recorded by the software, and a real-time alarm is given if someone with a high temperature walks in. 

6. AskDoc: This is a Doctor VideoBot addressing queries about Covid-19 supported with multi-lingual voice and text formats.  

7. Thermoxy: This device is specifically designed to measure parameters like temperature, pulse rate and oxygen level and display each parameter on the device screen. The real-time data is transferred to the network both wirelessly and through LAN.  

8. Hylobiz: This is being developed keeping in mind digitizing receivables/payables and working capital for SMEs.  Hylobiz digitizes the whole process of sending invoices, automated reminders, collections/payments, automated reconciliations, working capital possibilities from banks/ NBFCs, and insurance services through a single-window platform.  

9. Doxper: This is an AI-powered digital pen and encoded paper solution which does not require any behaviour change from the doctor, nurse, or assistant — no typing is required. The solution can be quickly deployed in Covid-19 testing centres  to ensure that real-time, accurate data is digitized and flows to the right stakeholders for updates and analysis. Additionally, in case of false negatives or new cases discovered, a digitized paper trail will allow for rapid contact tracing and investigation. 

10. VapCare: This is automated secretion management and oral hygiene system for ICU patients on mechanical ventilation. VAPCare provides a completely closed system for intelligent and accurate removal of saliva and secretions in a ventilated patient without any risk of exposure of the nurse to these secretions.  

11. Nubewell Network Function Gateway: Fake news filtering at the enterprise and service provider Level. The SDWAN solution offers optimal traffic steering with predictable application performance combined with Smart Generation security features with real time full visibility and seamless integration with third-party vendors. Blocking all the Chinese applications at the ISP level. WFH (work from home) users are benefited with the Nubewell all-in-one simplified pizza box to prioritize video streaming applications, collaboration tools such as WebEx, Microsoft Teams, Google Video, corporate applications such as Citrix, SAP, Oracle ERP, and cloud applications such as Office 365, SAP Cloud, Oracle Cloud and Corporate VPN. 

12. Face shield: This can protect the public and healthcare workers from getting infected by Covid-19.  

13. SenseGiz: This is an award-winning and patent-pending digital solution for enforcing social distancing and contact tracing for enterprise use to mitigate risks, keep employees safe and prevent future business shutdowns due to Covid-19. This also helps enforce geofencing for specified areas and prevents overcrowding. It can give instant audible alerts to individual employees carrying tiny tags if they break social distancing norms as well as give detailed reports with timestamps to admins. 

14. Stasis: It is the only made in India USFDA-cleared Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) solution that converts any bed into a cloud-connected in any care setting within minutes. The smart, continuous, remote monitoring solution is easy to install and very simple to use, needs no additional infrastructure, and can be deployed in all areas of the hospital including general wards, private rooms, isolation rooms, transplant units, post-operative areas, HDUs, step-down units, and even ICUs. 

15 Touchless ID: This replaces HW scanners. This uses the mobile phone camera to take a picture of the person’s fingers and extract fingerprint biometrics. These biometrics are compatible with government databases like Aadhaar.  The single biggest cause of disease transmission is based on what people touch. This product eliminates the ‘touch’ in the attendance system. 

16. Dozee: This is India’s only contactless health monitor. It is a thin sensor sheet that goes below the mattress and monitors heartbeat, respiration, oxygen saturation and more, and sends this information to doctors remotely. Without any wires, patients can be continuously monitored. Nurses don’t have to physically visit patients to check their health vitals, reducing their exposure to infection and workload. Doctors can also put custom alerts on each patient to identify patients that are deteriorating, and hence can timely transfer them to the ICU. Dozee is being used in 20+ hospitals and Covid centres in remotely monitoring patients. Dozee is also being used in monitoring thousands of patients at home, increasing India’s bed capacity by thousands.  It has proven life-saving in 47 cases already.