low cost solutions, so an average user
can save money on constant check-ups.
Low costs also allow these start-ups to
cater to rural segments of India, where
a healthcare worker can refer patients
to tertiary hospitals based on initial
reports by these devices.
Given the burden of diabetes in every
aspect of life (behavioral, physiological
and financial), being handheld into
recovery could be motivating for many
patients. For maximum impact, we
need to reach the furthest demographic
Urvashi (Raheja) Bhattacharyya is a
Biomedical Science graduate from Delhi
University and a Ph.D. from National
Centre for Biological Sciences. When not
running behind her toddler, she spends
time reading stuff about the brain, AI,
ML and latest innovations. Writing keeps
her calm.
The complication of retinopathy, as
mentioned above, relates to the slowly
progressive disease of the eye and is
one of the leading causes of blindness
in diabetic patients. This segment is
addressed by start-ups like ChironX and
Artelus that use artificial intelligence to
detect or monitor diabetic retinopathy
risks from retinal image scans. Both the
start-ups have achieved high accuracy
of detection (over 95%) while the
technology of AI confers an easy benefit
of scanning retinas at a much faster
speed to doctors and hospitals. Artelus
also boasts to have saved over 3900 eyes
so far from diabetic complications.
corners of India, as diabetes has a
growing prevalence in all sectors of the
country. Infact, why wait for diabetes
to knock at your door? One can also
mitigate pre-diabetic conditions or
reduce the chances of developing
diabetes later in life. These start-
ups aim to provide that ecosystem,
where a patient can be led into an
improved, healthy lifestyle at minimal
costs. And just as it is heartening to
see the growing awareness of Indians
towards their health, it is equally
imperative that these solutions are also
as democratic as possible. Importantly
in a booming start-up scenario,
maintaining data integrity, complete
transparency
between
doctors,
patients and companies as well as strict
adherence to ethical standards would
go a long way in ensuring patient trust
in this system.
Complimenting
these
health
management gurus, patients are
also likely to benefit if there were
devices providing at home diagnosis
for diabetic complications, such as
neuropathy,
kidney
malfunction
or diabetic retinopathy. Scintiglo
by Cutting Edge Medical Devices,
Anupath by PathShodh and Sparsha
by Yostra Labs have created Point of
Care (PoC) tests to detect the first
two complications. Scintiglo is a small
handheld device that detects urinary
proteins (should be trace levels in a
healthy individual) at a low cost with
a remarkable accuracy and connects
to a smartphone through a custom
app. Anupath uses unique test strips
for detection of specific biomarkers
of diabetes, while also eliminating the
need of usual sample preparation that
one sees in clinics. Patients can get a
comprehensive reading of their plasma
and urine protein levels, HbA1c levels
blood glucose and haemoglobin. While
Sparsha, as the name suggests, focuses
on touch-based tests that can diagnose
diabetic peripheral neuropathy and send
reports via users’ smartphone. Funded
by the Department of Biotechnology
grant (BIRAC), these start-ups focus on
Volume 4 | Issue 1 | January-March 2019
25