War On Covid Spurs A Blitz Of Innovation

With low-cost testing kits, drones & fever detection systems, students and startups arm frontliners with hi-tech arsenal

- Gulam Jeelani and Shashank Shekhar

*On Friday, HRD minister Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ felicitated a team of scientists from IIT Delhi involved in the development of a low-cost Covid-19 testing kit.

* A day before, engineers at the Design Innovation Centre of Islamic University of Science and Technology in Awantipora, Kashmir, announced the making of a low-cost ventilator prototype.

* A Noida-based startup has developed a portable fever detection system which, once installed in buildings, can automatically detect body temperatures of multiple people even from a 10-metre distance.

START UP INDIA, SHUT DOWN CORONA

The Covid-19 pandemic is sparking a flurry of lowcost but hi-tech innovations in the country. From testing kits to portable ventilators, sanitizer-drones to portable fever detection systems, institutes and startups are coming forward to join the fight against the pandemic.

Minds At Work

In the case of the low-cost testing kit developed by IIT-Delhi scientists, the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, is in the process of validating this test on clinical samples. The affordable kit called ‘Probe-Free Detection Assay’ has already been optimised and tested for sensitivity at the research laboratories of the institute. Once approved and put to use, this testing kit can be a big leap at a time when testing remains a problem area and private labs are finding few takers because of high pricing. The scientists associated with the innovation said that the test can performed at a much cheaper price and hence will be affordable for the general public.