Chennai: IIT-Madras’ Healthcare Technology Innovation Centre (HTIC) and Helyxon, a healthcare startup in IIT-M Research Park, have announced development and successful deployment of remote patient monitoring solutions for Covid-19.
A release from IIT-M said the device was a first-of-its-kind in the market that does clinically accurate continuous monitoring of four critical parameters–temperature, oxygen saturation, respiratory rate and heart rate.
The device has already reached over 2,000 patients in public and private hospitals and at homes, with another 5,000 devices in the pipeline.
The production was being scaled up to meet the growing demand.
The cost of the device ranged from Rs 2,500 to Rs 10,000 depending on the configuration and parameters.
It is completely self-contained, portable, wireless and could be clipped on to patient’s finger and the data is streamed to a mobile phone or central monitoring system. The temperature was measured at the armpit and blood oxygen level, and other parameters at the finger itself.
The device was reusable and has a life span of over a year. The devices could be used by the hospitals and doctors for patient management beyond Covid-19.
IIT-M faculty and HTIC head Prof Mohanasankar Sivaprakasam said there were several attempts to reposition consumer type devices like wrist bands and wearables as medical devices. But doctors and hospitals were clear that they could only accept devices with accuracy on par with dedicated patient monitors since these were patient’s vital physiological parameters. It was a big learning and a critical input for us, he added.