OdishaPlus Bureau
Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has developed four mobile infection testing and reporting labs. They are developed by its faculty with its incubated start-up ShanMukha Innovations.
The mobile diagnostic lab is approved by the state-run Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) of the Union Health Ministry. The mobile labs on a fleet of vans enable healthcare workers to collect, process and test samples using RT-PCR onsite and upload results to the ICMR portal.
The labs have the capacity to process 6,000-9,000 samples per month, with potential to scale up by adding equipment and personnel. The labs allow healthcare workers to collect, process and test samples using RT-PCR onsite and upload results directly to the ICMR portal.
IISc director Govindan Rangarajan said, “Unlike conventional diagnostic labs taking 2-10 days to for results, the mobile labs give the test report in 4-12 hours, a dramatic reduction in saving time and treating the affected persons.”
Rangarajan handed over keys of 4 mobile labs on minivans at the institute’s sprawling campus in the city’s northwest suburb to state-run Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) Vice-Chancellor S. Sacchidanand and Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) Director C.R. Jayanthi in the presence of Karnataka Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar.
The central government’s Principal Scientific Advisor K. Vijay Raghavan was instrumental in securing financial and logistics support from SBI Foundation of the State Bank of India (SBI) and vans from Tata Motors. The institute received additional funding from Collins Aerospace through United Way (Bengaluru) and Borqs software solutions.
