The National Research Development Corporation (NRDC) of the Union ministry of science and technology has launched a low-cost Covid-19 treatment equipment, giving a boost to the country’s fight against the deadly virus.
The NRDC Visakhapatnam unit head, Dr B.K. Sahu, said the equipment has the approval of government agencies before it was sent for commercial production.
The breathable low-cost PPE, christened NavRakshak, has been developed by Dr Arnab Ghosh, a naval doctor, posted at the recently created innovation cell at the Institute of Naval Medicine, Mumbai.
The PPE fabric will not have polymer or plastic lamination unlike others in the market and will assist in the removal of heat and moisture from the skin of the user.
The commercial availability of this user-friendly PPE will be within a month at a low cost of `450 to `500 per piece with superior technology and fabric quality, said Dr Bhavya Manjeera P., assistant development engineer, NRDC, Vizag.
The other projects at the pilot stage include a Coronavirus oven, a quick, reliable, safe, and effective sanitisation system, especially designed for combating the virus. It uses UV-C light in combination with significant design parameters in order to effectively sanitise the surfaces of various products of regular use in healthcare and household settings.
The patent for NavRakshak was filed by the defence ministry in association with the NRDC.
The corporation also filed for trademark registration of the PPE and also made it available for commercialisation to start-ups, MSMEs and industry, Dr Sahu said.
The equipment was also approved by the ICMR and also tested and certified at the Institute of Nuclear Medi-cine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), DRDO, following the prevailing ISO standards and guidelines of the Union ministry of health and family welfare and the ministry of textiles.
The technology IP is protected by patent for NavRakshak, which was filed by NRDC in association with the intellectual property facilitation cell of the Directorate General of Quality Assurance (Naval), ministry of defence.
To prevent surface-to-human transmission of the virus, the Coronavirus oven has been designed by the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee (IIT-R).
Similarly, portable UV sanitisers developed by the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay and a Prana-vayu-portable ventilator, being developed by the IIT-R are also in the pipeline. The portable ventilator is estimated at between Rs 25,000 and Rs 30,000 per unit, Dr. Manjeera said.
