Priced at Rs 5, this biosensor can detect kidney disease in just 8 minutes
Two IIT professors and a research scholar have developed a biosensor to detect kidney disease at home for just Rs 5.
The biosensor has been jointly developed by Rashmi Chaudhari (PhD scholar, IIT Bombay), Dr Abhijeet Joshi from IIT Indore, and Rohit Srivastava from IIT Bombay. With a single drop of urine, the sensor can measure both pH and urea concentration levels. The idea for building the sensor came from Rashmi's choice for her thesis when she started her PhD two years ago. Dr Joshi told The Times of India,
"The developed biosensors were tested on samples of patients suffering from chronic kidney disease procured from KEM Hospital and Apex Kidney Care in Mumbai and it showed very accurate results. Results of the study, funded by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) and the Department of Science and Technology (DST), have been published in journal Scientific Reports."
Though the available technology is accurate, it is a time-consuming process as the patients have to undergo two tests — one for pH and one for urea concentration levels. The biosensor, on the other hand, requires only one test, which can be done by anyone regardless of technical knowledge.
They achieved more than 97 percent accuracy with the sample set they experimented on, and the test was completed in only eight minutes. According to India Science Wire, Rohit Srivastava, Professor at the Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, IIT Bombay, said,
“The biosensor is stable for up to a month in a refrigerator and gives results that are unaffected by other components in urine samples.”
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