IIT Guwahati | Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati Point-of-care Testing Device That Will Alert In Early Stage Diabetic Retinopathy | A device developed by IIT Guwahati, it checks tears and alerts you to diabetes retinopathy in early stage

• The device is named ‘Point-of-Care’, which analyzes tears and samples of urine.
• The beta-2 microglobulin protein present in the sample indicates disease, if the color of the sample changes in the device, this protein is confirmed

Daily newspaper

Jun 25, 2020, 04:23 PM IST

IIT Guwahati has developed such a device that will alert in the early stage if there is diabetic retinopathy. After examining the patient’s tear or urine, the device will tell whether the person is suffering from diabetic retinopathy. Researchers have named it ‘point-of-care’. IIT Guwahati has designed this device in association with Sri Shankardev Netralaya.

What is diabetic retinopathy
It is a disease of the eye, seen in patients who have been suffering from diabetes for a long time. In the case of diabetic retinopathy, the retinal blood vessels in the eye are damaged, the result is blurred vision, difficulty in identifying colors, not appearing at night, or the same thing.

This is how the device works
Researchers have detected such proteins present in the body, which indicate diabetic retinopathy in the patient. During the research, researchers took tears and samples of urine. During testing with the device, a protein named beta-2 microglobulin was confirmed in the sample.

According to Dr. Dipankar Bandopadhyay, head and researchers at the Center for Nanotechnology, samples taken from humans are exposed to the sensing element in the device. During this time, if the color of the sample changes, it is proved that it contains beta-2 microglobulin protein. This micro-fluidic analyzer gives better and reliable results. It is a glucometer-like device that can be carried anywhere.

Preparations started to patent the device
The research has been published in the ACS Journal. Preparations have also been started to patent the device soon. The research is funded by the Ministry of Human Resource Development.

@IITGuwahati researchers develop point-of-care device for early and easy detection of #diabetic#retinopathypic.twitter.com/NBVVkV39Fc

– IIT Guwahati (@IITGuwahati) June 24, 2020