3 IIT Bombay alumni develop health test kit that gives results in 30 seconds

NAGPUR: Three alumni of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay have developed a smartphone-based health test kit using urine sample and claim that it gives results in 30 seconds. Some public health centres (PHCs) in Maharashtra's Nashik district have been using these kits for health tests, a Zilla Parishad official said. As part of the test, a person has to dip a card (supplied in the test kit) in urine for a second, click a photo of it on his/her phone using the 'Neodocs' app.

"The photo gets uploaded on our cloud server, where an algorithm uses computer vision to scan the card and gives results within 30 seconds," claimed Manasvi Shah, the strategic partnerships manager of 'NeoDocs;, the startup founded by former IITians Anurag Meena, Nikunj Malpani and Pratik Lodha.

Also Read | IIT Bombay changing UG curriculum to reduce stress

'NeoDocs' presented the 'urine test kit' during an exhibition at the recently held Indian Science Congress in Nagpur. Malpani said it was during the COVID-19 lockdown time that they realised the importance of the quantification of health and the value of diagnostics. These test kits will help bring healthcare to every doorstep and reduce the overall cost for testing significantly, no matter the socio-economic background, Meena said.

According to Lodha, they are further working on researching and developing instant test kits for various human bio-fluids (blood, vaginal discharge, semen, etc). They began their venture with five basic instant urine test kits catering to their customers in a personalised manner, Nikunj said.

Apart from the wellness kit, the company is also manufacturing chronic kidney disease and elderly test kits. There is also a maternity care kit for women to be used throughout pregnancy, he said. Regular screening allows one to dodge even the slightest chance of suffering from the risk factors associated with pregnancy, he claimed.

Malpani said after winning the Maharashtra Startup Week Award in October 2022, they are collaborating with the Nashik Zilla Parishad by introducing smartphone-based tests at the PHCs in Trimbak. Nashik Zilla Parishad health officer Dr Harshal Nehete told PTI that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with NeoDocs for using these instant test kits at their PHCs in Trimbak taluka. "We have been using these instant tests at seven of our PHCs for antinatal care of mothers. We are also using their UTI (urinary tract infection) test kits and wellness kits," he said.