Chennai: Social enterprise incubator Villgro on February 9 announced two new additions to its investment and incubation portfolio – Adiuvo Diagnostics, which is developing a portable, non-invasive device that helps in the diagnosis of skin and soft tissue infections; and Spot Healthcare Solutions, developing non-invasive diagnostic solution to detect neonatal sepsis.

Adiuvo found that when it comes to skin infections, lack of access to qualified dermatologists, microbiology facilities and time taken for detection are the primary problems. “Only 6,000 dermatologists in India cater to 121 crore population. Due to the lack of a device/method to quickly identify and differentiate the pathogen causing the infection at an early stage, generic antibiotics are prescribed which contribute to antibiotic resistance, rise of super bugs and other infections,” said founder R Geethanjali.

The company is developing a non-invasive portable device that can detect and classify clinically relevant bacteria and fungus causing skin and soft tissue infections in less than two minutes. This device will aid the doctors with right treatment decisions and for optimizing wound management.

“In India’s public-health context, making rapid, non-invasive diagnostic capabilities available at points of screening, enables the front-line physicians to make decisions rapidly and ensures effective treatment,” said Arun Venkatesan, CTO, Villgro.

“Adiuvo’s technology aims to do this at a reasonable cost and with ease-of-use in mind,” he said.

Spot health’s device was created after founder Amrita Sukrity worked on the problem of neonatal sepsis under BIRAC’s Social Innovation Immersion Program.

“We aim to change the age-long protocols in clinical practices that demand longer wait times, higher costs and elaborate laboratories. We want to bring down the rates of neonatal mortality and maternal mortality by more than 50%,” she said.

Source: Times of India