Start-ups tech up to combat COVID-19

As the world is swamped by the COVID-19 scare, health and technology start-ups are gearing up to offer solutions that may help the country weather the storm.

From apps that can help people keep track of social distancing, to robots and cobots (collaborative robots) that can help do jobs, which are currently being done by frontline workers, who thereby expose themselves to the deadly virus, technology has been at the core of these innovations.

Case in point, healthcare start-up DROR’s personal safety app that goes by the same name, has come up with a ‘social distancing’ feature that allows users to accurately track their social distancing score in real-time.

The ‘Social distancing tracker’ feature enables users to maintain their daily social distancing score by exchanging short distance Bluetooth signals between phones to detect other users of the app who are in close proximity.

The DROR app processes information based on machine learning and artificial intelligence-based algorithm.

It also alerts the users if they get close to a high volume of human contact.

According to the start-up, with more people using this app, the feature will also help in contact tracing.

Debayan Saha & Shashi Ranjan, Co-founders, PerSapien Innovations, have also developed an ultraviolet light (UV C-254nm) based robot, which enables sterilisation of hospitals without exposing anybody to the contaminated environment.

The robot comprises a UV-C lamp mounted on a wheeled robotic platform that is operated with remote control. It is equipped with a camera to give a perspective from the driver’s seat onto a digital screen to remotely control the robot.

The duo has developed another device called “Airlens Minus Corona” that will travel on streets to sterilise the city, through charged/ionised water droplets.

Explaining the assisting technology, Saha and Ranjan said “In simple terms, we can say that the charged or ionised water helps in the oxidation of the viral protein, reducing them to non-harmful molecules.

As oxidation is a potent antimicrobial tool, the water droplets are ionised with the help of the corona discharge, which oxidises the protein structure of the micro-organisms, thereby, killing them.”

The device is not for commercial sale but the technology has already hit the roads in Kolkata.

On similar lines, Dozee’s contact-free health monitor allows people to track heartbeat, respiration, sleep and stress-recovery without the need for any wires or technical expertise.

The start-up is particularly targeting the elderly, who stand the most vulnerable in the current scenario.

They just need to place Dozee’s sensor sheet below the mattress and connect it to a mobile app, and whenever they are in bed, their health data gets recorded, which can be viewed in real-time remotely by doctors.

“We had the capacity to produce around 5,000 devices a week with our EMS facility in Bengaluru. We are now meeting a demand of around 100,000 devices a week to fulfil the demand of the healthcare system dealing with at-risk patients at home and in quarantine centres,” said Mudit Dandwate, Co- Founder, Dozee.