By PRERNA SINDWANI , MAY 13, 2020
Mumbai is one of the worst-hit cities in the coronavirus pandemic, and now to accelerate the rate of testing, the city is set to get a unique ‘Covid-19 Test Bus’. As the name suggests, this bus will move around the city collecting test samples for rapid testing.
On Maharashtra Day on May 1, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Alumni Council launched a test bus that can reduce the cost of testing by over 80% without compromising on the testing capacity. IIT Alumni Council is a global alumni body for all the twenty three IITs.
According to the alumni body, this will facilitate a “100x increase in testing capacity, hopefully within a hundred days.”
“The IIT Alumni Council has taken a proactive approach to supporting the Government’s efforts in fighting the Covid-19 challenge. We have acted swiftly and set up the IIT C19 Task Force to channelise the energies of the global IIT Alumni for this fight,” said Ravi Sharma, President, IIT Alumni Council.
The move is aimed at supporting the health department in tackling the pandemic that has caused 361 deaths and over 11,000 infections in Mumbai alone. India’s testing capacity stood at 177 tests per million, as on April 15.
The IIT C19 Test Bus is based on the Kodoy architecture model that can facilitate affordable and rapid testing. It involves e-vehicles for sample selection & telemedicine, algorithm based pooled genetic testing and megalabs that are capable of conducting up to five million tests per month per lab.
“The Covid-19 Test Bus is based on indigenous technology and to the best of our knowledge, is the first vehicle of its kind in the world with onboard genetic testing, AI-based teleradiology and contactless sample collection. We chose Mumbai as the launch location given the relatively high number of cases in the city,” Sharma said.
At first, a digital chest x-ray would be carried out and sent to the doctors online. The healthcare staff will then use artificial intelligence to see the probability of a person having Coronavirus.
“Then we collect the swab from the mouth and throat which is done across a glass screen whilst fully protecting the technician from any kind of contact with the patient,” said Dr Muffazal Lakadawala, Chief Medical Officer at the NSCI hub.( B Insider )
