Painless Technology

Myshkin and a group of friends created a noninvasive blood-test device, which they hope will reduce the number of anaemia-related deaths.

An innovative young man and his friends have created a device that tests blood without the use of needles.

THE things that Myshkin Ingawale has worked on are as diverse as night and day. He was on the MIT team that worked to build the Copenhagen Wheel, a device that transforms ordinary bicycles into hybrid e-bikes. At the same time, he was also trying to finish his PhD, researching how people interact, and how articles are formed, on Wikipedia.
It was also at this time in 2009 that he took a break and returned home to Mumbai, India, for a vacation. He decided to take a road trip to Parol, which is about 60km from Mumbai. A friend of his, Dr Abishek Sen, was interning there, and was delivering a baby when Myshkin arrived.
Later, Dr Abishek emerged looking pale. When asked why, the doctor told his friend that the baby and its mother had both died due to post-partum haemorrhage. The severe bleeding was caused by undiagnosed anaemia. Even though there are cheap and affordable cures for anaemia, and the Indian government even subsidises iron tablets, cases like this still happen because anaemia is not diagnosed at point-of-care.
Myshkin, who has a penchant for fixing things, thought that it was time someone invented a device that was portable and easy to use, for carrying out blood tests at point-of-care in villages and such.

by,
ALLAN KOAY starhealth@thestar.com