

IITian quits Hollywood to design lab in suitcase - newsign
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/IITian-quits-Hollywood-to-design-lab-in-suitcase/articleshow/20013993.cms

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swatkat
Here's an excerpt from National Technology Day 2013 press release[1]:

 _The First product which is Blood Chemistry Analyser & Compact Portable
Mobile Lab developed by Sh. Amit Bhatnagar, an IITian with the assistance of
TDB. This Analyser supports the analysis of 23 parameters which includes
Haemoglobin count, Blood Glucose, Urea, Uric Acid, Creatinine, Total Protein,
Bilirubin, Cholesterol, Triglycerides, SGPT, Calcium, Magnesium, and
Phosphorous. Cost of testing all 23 parameters on this device is less than Rs.
120 per person. The analyser is capable of analyzing 4000 samples during a
day. The Blood chemistry analyzer costs around Rs. 80,000/-._

From press-kit photo[2], I guess product is marketed under the name _Accuster
Mobile Lab_ [3].

[1]<http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=95923>

[2]<http://pib.nic.in/newsite/photo.aspx?photoid=47147>

[3][http://www.accuster.com/product_details.php?id=P14&cid=C...](http://www.accuster.com/product_details.php?id=P14&cid=C1)

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obviouslygreen
This is really cool, and the effort is definitely admirable, but I'd have a
few questions:

1\. A suitcase can't conduct an examination and render a diagnosis; someone
has to be able to operate it effectively. Are those people -- doctors, nurses,
or someone with similar training -- available in the places that could benefit
the most from this?

2\. From what's been posted around here, India has a very serious basic
sanitation problem. If that's true, two things:

2a. How will a predominantly filthy (bacterially speaking) environment effect
the accuracy and utility of this, particularly over long term use of a single
unit?

2b. Can we expect this to actually do any good in a significant number of
cases? I'd expect that a diagnosis like "yes, your malady is x, which is an
infection from the water you drink" is going to do very little good for many
people's situation.

I have no idea how the cost of this compares to salaries or publicly-available
funds for the places this is intended for, but that seems to me like another
potential issue.

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swatkat
For 1: Rural places in India have _Primary Health Centres (PHCs)_ ; they're
basically clinics with basic health-care facilities[0]. I believe these PHCs
would benefit from such portable blood analyzers, as setting up a full fledged
diagnostic lab may not be economical. PHCs would have doctor, nurse and
pharmacist; so operating these kits shouldn't be a problem. Also, from the
linked article, it looks like Border Roads Organisation is already using these
kits.

For 2a and 2b: I am not sure how effective it will be in long run, in _filthy_
environment :)

[0]<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Primary_Health_Centre,_India>

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zapf
Your man is gonna make some serious money.

1\. Clearly he is politicly connected. You don't get govt funding in India
without being connected to some member of parliament or another.

2\. And he knows some serious science.

3\. Is clearly an entrepreneur.

Well done him.

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bosky101
I think the bigger story is how he 'got into hollywood'

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sauravt
Respect

