[ad_1]
One barrier to point-of-care or lab testing in India appears unsurmountable — we’re speaking in regards to the time taken. Getting a blood check report carried out — which is without doubt one of the first issues that medical doctors recommend when one is affected by any type of illness or illness — will be cumbersome. If the Covid-19 pandemic has introduced this into sharp focus, the actual fact is that that is the fact for many circumstances as we speak, which contain an entire blood image (CBP) evaluation, together with renal ailments, malaria, dengue and chikungunya amongst others.
As soon as the report is prepared, medical doctors will then be capable to recommend crucial remedy and medical care required.
Whereas historically, the complete CBP report course of takes a few day, an RT-PCR check for ailments like Covid-19 takes about 48 hours to finish. Whereas the therapies and healthcare infrastructure appear to be digitising at a speedy tempo, the machine used to check the blood or physique fluid stays archaic.
Sharing the bitter actuality, medical units startup Livo cofounder Dr Junaid Shaik advised Inc42 that there are about 2 Lakh diagnostic centres/hematology labs and 20-25Okay pathologists in India and a majority of them are nonetheless utilizing standard blood evaluation units which are time consuming. Plus, the utilization of reagents within the course of limits the units to check extra samples, he added, which was highlighted severely in the course of the ongoing Covid-19 disaster.
Hyderabad-based Livo claims to have developed a state-of-the-art blood analyser machine that not solely provides the info of blood depend and eliminates the utilization of reagents, but in addition provides out the morphology report of the cell. The 3D morphology report of the cell is of nice worth, because it helps medical doctors establish abnormalities within the cell construction, and likewise it has the potential to differentiate most cancers cells.
Shaik added that Livo’s blood evaluation machine allows the completion of the complete strategy of accumulating the pattern to reporting in nearly six minutes, which is lower than half the time it takes to even put together a slide with the pattern within the standard course of.
Usually, a blood depend carried out by move cytometry provides out information of pink blood cells (RBC), white blood cells (WBC), hemoglobin, platelets depend. And primarily based on the depend, medical doctors will be capable to diagnose sickness and recommend medical therapies. Semi-automating the complete course of, Livo cuts down on the time taken. “In the process, we realised that our blood smear and strainer itself is quite unique, nothing like in the Indian market” emphasised Shaik
Blood smear is a medical machine that’s used to gather the blood pattern, and will be smeared on the microscope slide with a push of a button. Blood strainer, alternatively, filters the pattern, the place the blood smear slide is positioned in a coplin jar with modified Wright-Giemsa stain for one minute, also-known-as customized speedy pressure within the case of Livo. It must be famous that the identical machine may also be used as a pap smear, a check performed to display screen for sure sorts of most cancers similar to cervical most cancers, which is quite common amongst Indian girls, Shaik added.
Accuracy, Accessibility & Affordability
Relating to medical evaluation units, accuracy is the most important problem. By way of accuracy of the stories, the corporate stated that it leverages synthetic intelligence and machine studying instruments to scan hundreds of microscopic photographs to supply correct outcomes. Livo claimed to have run medical trials on 300 sufferers/instances, and stated that its stories are 97% correct, and all its units are CE and ISO 13485:2016 licensed.
Citing the brand new medical machine directives, the corporate stated that it has additionally utilized for In Vitro Diagnostic Regulation (IVDR), which shall be efficient from Might 26, 2022 onwards. Along with this, it has a no objection certificates (NOC) from Central Medication Commonplace Management Organisation (CDSCO), a brand new rule below India’s medical machine guidelines (MDR) 2017, which has categorised such units as unregulated units.
By way of accessibility, Livo claimed that its units are simple to function and will be accessible throughout distant areas, significantly in Tier 3, Tier Four and Tier 5 cities/cities because it has constructed the know-how capabilities inside the machine.
Moreover, guaranteeing its units are additionally reasonably priced, Livo’s blood smearer and strainer is priced at INR 1.Three Lakh, and has additionally give you a rental mannequin the place diagnostic centres, labs and clinics can hire its units for INR 2-2.5K per thirty days. “If you want to purchase blood smearer and strainer in the Indian market, the cheapest ones cost about 2.5 Lakh, and we have reduced the cost by almost 50%,” knowledgeable Shaik.
Livo stated that it plans to cost its prospects solely the manufacturing value of the machine, because it believes in retaining the margins low, given the quantity of the enterprise, and appears to earn MoM recurring income from subscription. Additionally, the corporate stated that every one its units are domestically manufactured (in partnership with native CNC distributors) and are assembled in-house.
Based by Dr Junaid Shaik, Faisal Sheikh, Prof. Prasanth Kumar in 2018, Livo has been within the strategy of product growth for the previous few years. Shaik advised Inc42 that it has acquired 25 preorders and Livo lately closed a distribution deal of 800 units from southern Indian states, together with Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Andra Pradesh. Backed by healthtech-focussed angel buyers and industrialists similar to Ravi Reddy, Dr Praveen Kumar and others, the corporate has raised a complete of $366Okay in funding, with a most up-to-date spherical at 100 Cr valuation.
At current, Livo competes with the likes of Sight Diagnostics, Cellavision, Roche, 1Drop Diagnostics, Arivale amongst others. Based on MarketWatch, the worldwide POC infectious illness diagnostics market is predicted to achieve 1.05 Bn by 2026, from $997.7 Mn in 2020, rising at a compound annual progress price of 5.4%.
Livo advised Inc42 that it presently positions itself in another way when it comes to its zero reagent, low value and on-site digital morphology report, in comparison with different rivals within the area, the place their units are costly and time-consuming.
Testing In The Instances Of Covid-19
By the way, Livo had plans to launch its merchandise (blood smearer, stainer and scanner) into the market in April. However, because of the disruption within the provide chain led by Covid-19, the corporate needed to postpone its launch to the second week of August, and its operations got here to a stand nonetheless.
Nevertheless, in the course of the pandemic occasions, the corporate utilised its assets successfully to work on its upcoming merchandise, a pathology scanner referred to as A700. The machine does extra than simply scan the pattern and produce digital stories, stated Shaik, fascinatingly.
He stated that this new machine has the capabilities to share and ship digital slides over to distant pathologists by way of cloud. “We have developed a platform, which follows a neat workflow and ensures the entire process is smooth. Also, we have used machine learning tools, which stitches thousands of images and detects abnormal cells and raises a red flag immediately,” Shaik stated, including that this may enormously improve the accuracy of the report present quick access to pathologists, normal physicians and gynecologists.
Livo’s new machine is priced at INR Three Lakh, which the founder claimed was one of many USPs. “Again, the cheapest scanner in the market would cost about INR 6-9 Lakh, excluding other features that comes with our device,” added Shaik.
At present, the corporate continues to be within the pre-revenue stage, and within the coming days, Livo stated that it is going to be partnering with two of India’s largest strainer and smearer producers within the nation to additional increase its manufacturing capability. Additionally, the corporate shall be collaborating with IIIT Hyderabad, and Basavatarakam Indo American Most cancers Hospital & Analysis Institute for analysis and growth work, added the founder.
“In the coming months, we will be coming up with multiple use cases, including semen analysis, histopath, breast cancer, liver cancer, oral cancer cell detection, etc. This is all the starting point for us. In fact, we are already working on cervical cancer, and in the coming days, we will start working on breast cancer.”
[ad_2]
