IIT Madras’ Healthcare Technology Innovation Centre (HTIC) and Helyxon, a healthcare startup in IIT Madras Research Park today announced successful deployment of remote patient monitoring solutions for COVID-19 that they have jointly developed. The device is 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. Production is being scaled up to meet the growing demand. Cost of the device ranges from Rs. 2,500 to 10,000 depending on the configuration and parameters. The device is completely self-contained, portable, wireless and can be clipped on to patient’s finger and data is streamed to a mobile phone or central monitoring system. The temperature is measured at the armpit and blood oxygen level, and other parameters at the finger itself. The device is reusable and has a lifetime of over a year. The devices can be used by the hospitals and doctors for patient management beyond COVID-19.
Describing the development process of the device, IIT Madras faculty and Head of Healthcare Technology Innovation Centre (HTIC), Prof. Mohanasankar Sivaprakasam said, “There are several attempts to reposition consumer type devices like wrist bands and wearables as medical devices. But doctors and hospitals are clear that they can only accept devices with accuracy on par with dedicated patient monitors since these are patient’s vital physiological parameters. It was a big learning and a critical input for us”.
Prof. Mohanasankar Sivaprakasam added, “As a result, the key technical challenge is to engineer the device so that it meets the standards of a medical patient monitor, and yet costs one tenth and can easily be fitted and used without any training.”