New India is looking towards solutions for people-centric problems with its new and emerging technologies. These technological solutions are powered by national initiatives implemented by the government, especially through the 25 innovation hubs across the country through the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS).
What is NM-ICPS?
NM-ICPS was approved by the Union Cabinet at a total cost of Rs 3660 crores in December 2018. The mission is aimed at creating complete convergence with all stakeholders by establishing strong linkages between academia, industry, Government and International Organizations.
NM-ICPS is a Pan India Mission that combines digital/cyber elements with physical objects (e.g. machines, autonomous vehicles) and data with capabilities of communication, data collection & processing, computing, decision making and action.
It fosters technological solutions in health, education, energy, environment, agriculture, strategic cum security. Under this mission, Industry 4.0 is being implemented through 25 Technology Innovation Hubs (TIHs) established in top academic, and National R&D Institutes.
Several technologies and technology platforms established under the mission have brought remarkable innovations in multiple sectors. Among these the health sector has received focused attention during the COVID pandemic.
Let’s take a look at some notable innovations & teams that have made the Health sector of India more robust, especially during the pandemic.
- XraySetu: ARTPARK (AI & Robotics Technology Park), a not-for-profit foundation established by the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, developed an AI-driven platform that helped Chest X-ray interpretation of images sent over WhatsApp.
This brought early intervention through rapid screening of COVID 19, aiding doctors who have no access to X-ray machines. The solution, named XraySetu, is quick and easy to use and can work with low-resolution images sent via mobiles, facilitating detection in rural areas.
Using machine learning algorithms, the device generates a patient report showing suspicious abnormal regions in the lungs and detects if the person is likely positive for COVID, pneumonia, or other lung abnormalities.
- RAKSHAK: A team of scientists from IIT Bombay developed a tapestry method for screening COVID-19 under Remedial Action, Knowledge Skimming, and Holistic Analysis of COVID-19 (RAKSHAK). The development of this method was supported by the Technology Innovation Hub (TIH) at IIT Jodhpur and has also been shortlisted by X-prize in an open Innovation Track.
The RAKSHAK effort has led to the development of a New Chest X-ray based COVID diagnosis System (in the ICMR validation process now), Open Data for Indian and International COVID Cases – COVBASE (Imaging, clinical parameters, longitudinal data, and annotations), Campus RAKSHAK – A decision framework for Campus Safety.
- AmbiTag: The researchers at the IIT Ropar Technology Innovation Hub – AWaDH and its startup ScratchNest developed a first-of-its-kind Internet of Things (IoT) device that monitors ambient temperature during the transportation of vaccines, including Covid-19, medicines, blood samples, food and dairy products, meat products, and animal semen.
Prior to this, such devices were being imported by India. Currently, the institute is planning for the mass production of AmbiTag wherein the device will also be made available to all companies involved in COVID-19 vaccine transportation from production facilities to the last mile vaccination centres in the country. AmbiTag is will available at the production cost of ₹400.
- OM: Recently, (CSIR) Central Drug Research Institute’s scientists have developed an indigenous RT-PCR kit called ‘Om’ for testing the omicron variant. The kit, a first by any government institution for the omicron variant, will also make India self-reliant in RT-PCR diagnostics.
Om enables quick and cost-effective detection of omicron variant over genome sequencing for a large population. It was made within two months and will cost around Rs 150. Further, it will give the test results in around two hours. According to the scientists, it can also be aligned for the detection of other emerging variants of Covid infection and other respiratory infections.
Once the kit gets approval from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), it will be launched by mid-February. The kit has been referred to the ICMR-National Institute of Virology (NIV) and is yet to be validated.
Broadening the scope of Innovations in other areas
A consortium launched by IITM Pravartak Technologies Foundation and five other entrepreneurial start-up companies in the deep tech and engineering domain have been established Under the mission I-STAC.DB – Indian Space Technologies and Applications Consortium Design Bureau.
The consortium will focus on building an end-to-end Atmanirbhar ecosystem for space technologies from on-demand access to space, including rapid launch capability, satellites, sensors, future generation communication such as 6G, satellite data, and its applications.
India is among the top 12 destinations for biotechnology worldwide wherein the domestic industry comprises more than 2,700 biotech start-ups and 2,500 biotech companies.
