IIT Madras, General Insurance Corporation collaborate to develop urine-based tuberculosis diagnosis technology

NEW DELHI: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras has partnered with the General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re) to develop a urine-based tuberculosis diagnosis or screening. The envisaged product for urine-based TB screening or diagnosis is anticipated to be faster and far more affordable than the existing point-of-care diagnostic kits available for various diseases such as blood glucose monitors.

An agreement towards this CSR partnership was signed on February 10, 2023. The agreement was signed by Professor Mahesh Panchagnula, Dean (Alumni and Corporate Relations), IIT Madras, and Madhulika Bhaskar, Director and General Manager, General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re).

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The key beneficiaries of this project, which is getting CSR funding from the GIC Re, will be primary, secondary, and tertiary healthcare centres besides the Health departments in State and Central Governments.

Thanking GIC Re for supporting this project with immense societal applications, Professor Mahesh Panchagnula said, “We are delighted that GIC Re is partnering with us on this important project to find an early diagnostic tool for tuberculosis.”

Looking forward to this collaboration, Madhulika Bhaskar, Director and General Manager, GIC Re, said, “Collaboration between industry and academia is key to catalyze innovation and growth in technology. Associating with corporates and businesses, provides educational institutions access to more resources to fund and expand their research areas. At GIC Re, our focus areas are education and health and we are glad to partner with IIT Madras on this meaningful initiative, which incorporates both these core themes.”

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The biosensors laboratory at llT Madras is developing a novel plasmonic fibre optic absorbance biosensor (P-FA8) technology. They have established a laboratory-level proof-of-concept for the detection of a well-reported tuberculosis biomarker in urine, known as ‘Upoaabinomannan (LAM).’

The IIM Madras release stated, "In parallel, the associated technologies for the fabrication of fibre optic sensor probes and readout device schemes have been designed and developed and the technology is transferred to two start-ups based in India and US. The next step towards bringing the urinary marker-based TB diagnosis is the systematic clinical validation study of the P-FAB diagnostic technology with TB patient samples. This research project envisages taking up this critical task and bringing it closer to the deployment of this technology in primary healthcare centres (PHCs)".

IIT Madras will be developing the proof-of-concept for urine-based TB screening or diagnosis. The know-how and the relevant technologies will be made available to start-ups or diagnostic kit manufacturers. This research project will help in establishing the proof-of-concept at the clinical level. Over two to three years, with the help of partnerships with appropriate industry partners, the product will be available for use and wide deployment.