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Health topic Maternal mortality
Health classification Diagnosis
FA info icon.svg Angle down icon.svg Project data
Location India
Status Clinical trial
OKH Manifest Download

Problem being addressed[edit | edit source]

Detecting anemia is crucial to curbing maternal and neonatal mortality, however, conventional, and often expensive and fragile, diagnostic mechanisms are not compatible with low-resource settings as they require electrical support and skilled healthcare workers.

Detailed description of the solution[edit | edit source]

ToucHB is a cost-effective, handheld, and non-invasive hemoglobin level scanner, which in combination with an accompanying chart, allows health workers to accurately and easily diagnose anemia in a variety of settings. The device shines light of different wavelengths through the tissue of the patient's finger and determines the hemoglobin concentration in the tissue based on hemoglobin's characteristic absorbance. ToucHB is durable and is supported by a rechargeable battery and a hand crank mechanism. Efforts are underway to integrate the technology with mobile devices using platforms such as Android, and the hardware is also being refined to be smaller and faster.

Designed by[edit | edit source]

  • Designed by: This device was designed by innovators Abhishek Sen and his team at Biosense Technologies Private Limited.
  • Manufacturer (if different): Biosense
  • Manufacturer location: Mumbai, India

When and where it was tested/implemented[edit | edit source]

The product has been tested in primary healthcare centers in Parole and Bhatane, Maharashtra India.

Funding Source[edit | edit source]

This device received funding from the following:

  • Sankalp Award for "Best Emerging Company in Healthcare 2009"
  • Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay Techfest 2008
  • Piramal Prize 2008
  • Grand Prize in Global Health at the Global Social Entrepreneurship Competition 2010
  • Biosense Technologies Private Limited (a for-profit corporation)

References[edit | edit source]

Other internally generated reports[edit | edit source]

Ingawale M. (2012.) A blood test without bleeding. TED Talks. Video available here.

ToucHB. (n.d.). Biosense. Retrieved on January 1, 2013. Link available here.

ToucHB. (n.d.). Foster School of Business. Retrieved on January 1, 2013. PDF available here.

Externally generated reports[edit | edit source]

Biosense diagnostic for anemia. (2010, August 30). Maternova: Accelerating Maternal and Neonatal Health Innovation. Retrieved January 1, 2013. Link available here.

Edwards, B. (2012, April 2). Biosense unveils ToucHb for needle-less blood testing. iMedicalApps. Retrieved January 1, 2013. Link available here.

Pain, P. (2012, December 24). ToucHb shines light on anaemia. The Hindu. Retrieved January 1, 2013. Link available here.

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Part of Global Health Medical Device Compendium
SDG SDG03 Good health and well-being, SDG09 Industry innovation and infrastructure
Authors Eva Shiu
License CC-BY-SA-3.0
Language English (en)
Related 0 subpages, 0 pages link here
Impact 410 page views
Created January 15, 2013 by Eva Shiu
Modified September 28, 2022 by Irene Delgado
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