ToucHB

Posted on the 31 July 2013 by Gopalakrishnan K @gopalmadhav
Anemia, a disease caused due to the deficiency of Hemoglobin. Is it fatal? No. Is it preventable? absolutely yes. Then what are we talking about? Awareness and deduction of the Anemia. I watched the TED talk of Myshkin. It shocked me to the core. I was upset on knowing the fact that lack of exposure to the deficiency in red blood cells resulting in death of two lives. Then when I googled about the facts the statistics said even more deadly facts. A trivial disease whose medication is easily available at a subsidized cost causing fatal effects. Few reasons are finding deficiency, the machine costs a hefty amount and symptoms are not much evident extrinsically. So it is human nature to postpone the chance to check the deficiency of disease which may or may not present. And the time to check also eats a lot of time.
Beyond that I also knew people who are allergic to the needle which makes them rethink of checking the deficiency which is trivial and not fatal. But the result says it different from our understanding of the deficiency. It’s the small things which matters the most. This device which Myshkin designed tests your hemoglobin level in minutes without any bloodshed, or needle. This technology is named as ToucHB, Which essentially says measuring Hemoglobin by touch. It’s a prick free blood testing.

Myshkin’s new technology comes in a pocket size and portable. He and his team worked on the principle that 1. No needles, no pricking, 2. Simple to use, 3. Carry in a kit. Rather than using needles to pierce and get a sample of blood to diagnose, they are using the technique of “Photoplethysmography”. This tells how much of the light is scattered, transmitted and absorbed. Each component in the blood has its own property of scattering, transmitting and absorbing and hence by the amount of these activities the amount the components present can be found out. Even advancement came as a part of sending the details/results to various places and people in the form of a mobile application.

This step is revolutionary in its own sense. According to Myhskin the motto is to abolish death caused by Anemia by 2020. They are working hard on selling this component to all areas possible, especially remote areas, where no nearby testing center is available. This step for sure can change the death which can be preventable. Diagnosing a simple deficiency and sorting it out at its nurturing stage brings healthy change in the health of a common man. Saving lives from this trivial matter makes this idea a brainstorming and revolutionary. You can check the Ted talk of Myshkin Ingawale here which he presented at Franklin Templeton Investmentspartnered the TEDxGateway Mumbai in December 2012.