The inaugural session was addressed by Dr. V K Singh, Managing Director, InnovatioCuris Pvt. Ltd., who set the tone for the conference by raising the genuine questions as how one can create healthcare delivery at optimum costs. He emphasized on working with grassroot innovators. In his speech, he also warned the young innovators to trust the technology only up to a limit.

Our guest of honor, Lt General (Dr.) Rajesh Pant, National Cyber Security Coordinator,Prime Minister’s Office, Government of India, in his special address quoted Mark Twain’s quote, “Gutenberg’s invention created heaven, and along with it a new hell”. He related this saying by how it applies equally to technology. As the technology has given us new horizons and ways to live, it has alongside created problems too.

Dr. Yasmin Ali Haque, UNICEF India Representative in her introductory address, gave a brief overview on the how unmet needs, especially in health sector become the mother of innovations and how technology can be a solution to address those innovations. She insisted on the use of scalable technology as to how it can be made accessible to millions of people. Referring to this, she talked about the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. The world has resolved to leave no one behind in fighting extreme poverty and preventable child deaths.

Mr. Karnal Singh, Ex-Enforcement Director, India raised during his speech Narayana Murthy’s concern that there have been no recent innovations from India. “Are we so bad?” He said we would have to think differently for finding solutions. The education which we receive in our country is more competitive than collaborative.There are many unmet needs in health sector, for example, for majority of injections, cold chain is not maintained. It’s been a long time that we could have insulin tablets rather having the existing insulin injections. India, prominently being an agricultural land faces a major unmet need of water requirement, which is only 50% against the 80% requirement. He acknowledged that 2010-2020 has been the decade of innovations for India. To everybody’s pride, the ranking of India in the global innovation index has improved by five places to 52nd in 2019 from 57th position last year.

Sachin Gaur, Director Operations, InnovatioCuris, took the opportunity to drive everybody’s attention towards the trust deficit which persists in medical community and equity of stakeholders. He insisted on developing a common language within the medical fraternity to which Artificial Intelligence (AI) can be a probable answer.

The forum manifested remarkable heterogeneity with its speakers from various realms across the globe. The second session on “Innovations for hospitals and insurance companies” was very interestingly structured as a free-style discussion.

Mr. Mohan Krishnan introduced the discussion with a brief presentation on the global trends in healthcare and their affordability. He particularly emphasized on access to healthcare resources and quantity shortage in India. He highlighted how lifestyle associated diseases have taken over the communicable diseases. He discussed the key trends in supply dynamics, their relationship to healthcare sector, and the challenges and opportunities for their future implementation. The functional and central aspect of this session was majorly about healthcare which is accessible and affordable to the masses. Other key points that emerged during the session are outlined as:

• switching of communicable to non-communicable lifestyle associated diseases
• lack of medical care in rural areas
• Ayushman Bharat Yojana or Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana or National Health Protection Scheme: one of the largest and promising healthcare initiatives which aims to address healthcare holistically
• patient feedback must be a pre-requisite while thinking of the innovations which can fulfill the unmet needs
• biggest challenge in healthcare is information symmetry
• one of the most remarkable point that came up was that the healthcare provider should be “paid to prevent”, and not paid to cure
• 5 P’s should be prioritized: People, Plant (equipment in hospitals), Processes, Premises, Patient care

This enlightening session focused on four most important factors, viz., better health outcome, better patient experience, better staff experience and better costs.

The tone of the next session on “Innovations in medical devices and diagnostics” was set by majority of doctors. The diagnostics could be done by the help of paramedics or people other than doctors and then they could be replaced by automated systems or AI. There are schemes such as Ayushman Bharat, which give accessibility to each one. The innovations could be patient centric, healthcare centric or in terms of sustainability. The focus was on trends impacting medical devices and diagnostics, for example, lab-on-chip, wearable health monitoring devices, AI, 3D printing, etc.

The tone of the next session on “Innovations in medical devices and diagnostics” was set by the majority of doctors. The diagnostics could be done by the help of paramedics or people other than doctors and then they could be replaced by automated systems or AI. There are schemes such as Ayushman Bharat, which give accessibility to each one. The innovations could be patient-centric, healthcare centric or in terms of sustainability. The focus was on trends impacting medical devices and diagnostics, for example.

The brainstorming session provided meaningful insights into the remedies which innovations can bring to the unmet needs in healthcare. Prime Minister’s health and wellness program were much talked about. Challenges in the not-much-explored area of management of blood banks were discussed. The lack of a centralized system of blood banking is a major concern.

The role of medical robotics, which is a type of disruptive technology, is very fascinating. The thought of switching from open surgery to key-hole-surgery to no-hole surgery is in fact very intruding. Another major concern across the globe is diabetes and how the diabetologists across the nation are ignorant in not examining the feet of their diabetic patients as 30% of the diabetics suffer from severe foot diseases. There are ample cases of diabetic amputation, which must raise an alarm within the diabetologists.e lab-on-chip, wearable health monitoring devices, AI, 3D printing, etc.

The fourth session was a very inspirational one wherein the dais had seven women innovators, each one unique in their own fields. As Prime Minister Modi once said, “The progress of humanity is incomplete without the empowerment of women.
”InnovateHER gave a common platform to few wonderful women where they shared their stories of inspiration, falls, and experience. This session was indeed a beautiful stretch of one hour where these women from varied backgrounds and aspirations showcased their expertise and their words gave hope, path and motivation to everybody present in the auditorium. They were an epitome of women empowerment and proved it greatly “Komal Hai Kamzor Nahi Tu, Shakti Ka Naam Hi Naari Hai, Jag Ko Jeevan Dene Wali, Maut Bhi Tujhse Haari Hai”.

Ms. Shriya Sethi, presented detailed statistical data on women entrepreneurs, about emerging trends in healthcare innovations, the existing lacunae and the current scenario of general well-being of people.

Ms. Priya Prakash, Founder & CEO, HealthSetGo, was one of the youngest innovators, who herself realized at a very tender age, the importance of good health. This drove her to initiate her existing foundation, which focuses on the wellness of children. “If the kids are healthy in the first place, the coming young generation would be disease-free”, was her take on the evolution of her organization.

Another eminent panelist Ms. Preeti Rao, Founder & CEO, Weljii, inspired everybody around to focus on being healthy. Instead of talking about the illness, she emphasized more on how people must take care of their wellness which includes both physical and mental health.

Ms. Veena Sehgal, a pharmacist and entrepreneur mentioned the gap in the availability of medicines which the doctor prescribes. They are most of the times available on area-specific basis which makes it difficult and time consuming for the patients. There should be an emphasis on generic medicines, rather than brands.

Amidst such tech gathering which had brought together so many thought leaders and experts alike; we had between us few young innovators. These innovators with their priceless ideas and vision delivered their pitches to make their candidature remarkable in its unique way.

The candidates included Priya Prakash (HealthSetGo), Yogesh M (Hybrid effluent water system technology), Saiprasad Poyarekar (spray-on skin tissue), Ashish Sharma (Drip monitoring system) and Vijay Kumar Kumawat (Microporous implants). With their unique set of products/services, the candidates made it difficult for the jury to decide on the winners. Saiprasad with his technological advancement of spray-on skin tissues to get rid of minor-to-severe burns grabbed him the award for best innovator pitch. He was followed by Vijay Kumar, as 1st runner-up and Priya Prakash as 2nd runner-up.

The next session was a special one dedicated to diabetes, one of the most worrisome chronic diseases across the globe. The speakers talked about how to monitor, control and manage the disease.

Dr. Arjun Dang, CEO, Dr. Dangs Lab, who was chairing the session referred India as the “diabetic capital of the world”, referring to the alarming scenario of the affected Indians wherein around 16 million Indians are affected with Type 2 diabetes, and this number is expected to rise to more than 100 million in the next ten years. He also insisted not to commoditize healthcare, rather consider it as a service which requires a lot of compassion and empathy.

One very relevant question that came up was that “Why Indians are most prone to diabetes?”. Probably it is because of the harmful oils and highly processed foods available in the Indian markets. Stress is a huge component in diabetes management. Exercise and breath-management (pranayama, etc.) have a major impact on diabetes management. One of the major contributors of diabetes is non-nutritional food. Sleep which is often understated has a direct impact on blood sugar level which increases due to lack of proper sleep. Diabetic patients can improve only to fall back again into the same pit and destroy their health, hence it is of utmost importance to rescue them.

Among the highlights of the next session, “India Global Collaboration in Health Sector: Start-up Opportunities and Challenges” were the long-term Australia-India collaboration goals in the field of Science and Technology. To seek the answer to the question, “What can India offer to countries in the panel and what do the countries have to offer for India?”, let’s read next.

Dr. Jukka Holappa, Commercial Counselor, Country Manager India at Business Finland, shared the current status of healthcare in Finland. He spoke about the excellent condition of R&D in Finland, among which ten large companies are Indian.

Dr. Shiban Ganju, shared that he has come to India because India is “where all the action is happening right now”. He talked about traditional medicines in India, differential pricing of products across various countries. The innovators must focus on “frugal innovation”, for providing the best of healthcare.

Ms. Sharda Balaji, a lawyer by profession highlighted the importance of mobile penetration which is the largest in the world in India. There have been tectonic shifts happening in technology. She discussed how India is all about affordability and value consciousness. The concept of “jugaad” or making things doable work well in India. This is where a lawyer is needed to license the product(s). The major challenge she mentioned in India is lack of connectivity with deep science and research across geographical locations within the country due to its enormous size.

Much was talked on the existence and emergence of the digital health in the intriguing session on “Digital Health: Giving Birth to New Delivery Models through Mobile, IoT, Blockchain and Artificial Intelligence”.

Mr. Jacky Ovadia, General Manager, IDEA (International Innovation & Business Development expert), Israel shared with the audience his viewpoint on advancement in telemedicine. There must be portable medicine devices which can effectively check pulse and nerves very easily. He mentioned about remote monitoring for ultrasound, pregnancy, pulse checking, and clinically approved digital urinalysis. He said that a concept which uses GPS to monitor patients’ activities and habits can have varied impact on people’s lives.

Way forward

With such inspirational, informative and interactive sessions, the two-day conference came to an end, raising too many new questions and challenges that may impact healthcare, especially in India. It also gave answers to many existing issues through the numerous innovations that were presented. The generic thought which probably each one had was on the affordability and accessibility of good healthcare. If the innovations are not scalable, easily accessible and cost-effective to the masses, they cannot persist for long.

Of utmost importance were the views on how AI can save lives, and the importance of end-to-end affordable healthcare. IoT can connect to anyone, anytime, anywhere in rural and urban areas where reach is low, and how AI helps in diagnosis and innovation. Early intervention can resolve health problems and there is a huge scope in the use of the apps which can enable timely and real time intervention. With highly potential schemes like Ayushman Bharat, we can create value chain in affordable and accessible healthcare for everyone.

The healthcare sector sees immense opportunities with the innovations happening across the globe. Innovation pitches from global and Indian companies that were conducted wherein organizations from various sectors came forward to present their portfolio of services and products.

Innovators and researchers are working on various aspects wherein they can target various chronic as well as lifestyle associated diseases. For example, the Nano 4 TB kit helps detect TB easily. There are various state-of-art laboratories across the nation which are deployed and use high-end technology, for example next generation sequencing is used to perform operations to detect aneuploidy or any kind of anomaly which is responsible for spontaneous miscarriages and mental retardation in live born babies. In the light of technology, innovation and healthcare, we must look at technology with a business view; how technologies work in society, sustainability of the model with traditional delivery, and about new models in healthcare.

Read past InnoHEALTH conference press release:
InnoHEALTH 2017
InnoHEALTH 2018
Also Read: Press Release: The International Medical Travel Show Dubai 2020

About the author

Dr. Jasmeet Chhabra is a Doctorate in Immunology and whenever she gets free time from the full-time job she loves to read and write about imperative issues in healthcare.

2. Pencil Beam Technology for Cancer

India has a huge number of cancer patients, keeping them in mind Apollo Group has launched Asia’s first proton therapy centre known as Apollo Proton Cancer Centre (APCC) located in Taramani, Tamil Nadu, India. Proton therapy is one of the most advanced forms of radiation treatment which attacks tumours with more precision thereby causing minimal damage to the surrounding healthy tissues. This therapy is particularly effective for pediatric cancers; tumours affecting eye, brain, breast, colon, gastrointestinal region, prostate and pelvis; areas close to the spinal cord, brain stem and other vital organs; and re-radiation in relapsed cases. Proton therapy is particularly useful in curing paediatric cancers. The centre built at a cost of Rs 1300 crore will cater not only to Indian patients but also a destination for foreign patients promoting Medical Tourism for cancer treatment. With this step taken by the Apollo hospitals, India becomes one of the few nations which offers proton therapy for cancer treatment in addition to UK. The facility is 150 bedded dedicated to cancer care with three proton therapy rooms, advanced radiation oncology centre, medical oncology and immuno therapy facility and high end day-care chemo wards. The facility will also have five modular digital MRI integrated operation theatres, besides a high-end diagnostic imaging centre for genomic profiling of cancers including DNA sequencing and digital pathology services. SOURCE: www.healthtechnology.in

3. Bio Glue for Fast Wound Repairing

Any trauma or surgery can lead to uncontrolled bleeding which is a major cause of death many a times as it is difficult to seal these bleeding wounds without sutures. To tackle this problem, a team of researchers in China from Zhejiang University and East China University of Science and Technology have developed a ‘biological glue’ that could one day stop arteries and hearts from uncontrollable bleeding. The study is published online in the Journal Nature Communications. So far, the use of the gel has been demonstrated in animal experiments involving pigs and rabbits wherein the light activated adhesive gel can rapidly seal wounds to arteries and the heart and could be potentially used in surgeries in the future. The USP of the biological gel is that when it is placed on an open wound, it mimics the composition of the extracellular matrix and sets fast when exposed to ultraviolet light. The non-toxic hydrogel can be injected and has the potential to be used for surgical haemostasis and fast wound sealing in cases of open surgery and minimally invasive endoscopic surgery. The gel is also capable of withstanding both slippery surfaces and the pulsing of heart tissue. The adhesive gel still has not been used on human organs, but a prototype was used inside rabbits and pigs where it performed better than sutures or other currently available surgical glues. In preliminary animal experiments, a set of surgical procedures were carried out on pigs and the use of gel could seal the wounds of livers of pigs without the need for sutures. With the use of this gel, for the first time ever high-pressure bleeding of a beating heart with 6 mm diameter cardiac penetration holes, was stopped and the wounds were stably sealed within 20 seconds without sutures. In pig surgery, the gel closed a punctured carotid artery in less than a minute and repaired a hole in the cardiac wall. In rabbit surgery, the light activated hydrogel was able to stop a bleeding liver cut and a femoral artery in mere seconds. The three pigs not only survived the heart surgery but also showed natural signs of healing within 2 weeks with little inflammation and almost no necrosis. Despite the progress, additional studies are needed to confirm the safety of the gel for its use in further trials, including those involving humans. The gel has improved properties over other similar materials present in the market – it can withstand upto 290 mmHg blood pressure, which is much higher than what most doctors and nurses usually deal with, it’s structure is based on that of human connective tissue, the extracellular matrix of this gel is compatible with internal organs and arteries that facilitates it’s binding with arterial and cardiac walls. The team is hoping that the gel could be ready for human surgical use in the next 3 to 5 years.

SOURCE: www.sciencealert.com

4. Bluestar Diabetes

The International Diabetes Foundation has predicted that diabetes could affect nearly 123 million of the Indian population by 2040 and world over the treatment for diabetes complications costs more than $670 billion dollars a year. The disease claims the lives of five million people worldwide each year. To contribute to the efficient management of diabetes, IFC (a member of the World Bank Group), WellDoc (a US-based digital health start-up) and Max Healthcare (a leading healthcare provider in India) have come together and recently launched an innovative mobile application named ‘Bluestar Diabetes’ to improve diabetic care in India. The pilot project will include a selected group of patients in New Delhi whose smart phones, personal computers and tablets will transform into a personal health advisor once the app is downloaded on their devices. The app will be tailored for the Indian market to account for local diets and specific medications which will allow patients to enter details of their meals and receive immediate advice on optimal medication and dosage. The app by WellDoc is a mobile health monitoring tool that helps type 2 diabetes patients and their doctors drive behavioural and clinical change by analyzing the diabetes data including medications and blood glucose levels entered by the patient which is then shared with the patient’s healthcare team to improve decisions and better manage the disease. IFC is providing the funding and support through its TechEmerge program which works in the emerging markets to match innovative firms with local partners creating a win-win situation for businesses. This TechEmerge program is being implemented in partnership with the Finnish Ministry of Employment and Economy along with the Israeli Ministry of Economy and Industry, and supported by Indian Health 2.0. The focus of Max Healthcare is on changing the healthcare delivery to serve patients with chronic ailments of which one is diabetes in a better and more efficient way. Thus, the role of each partner comes from their own vision and areas of expertise. Hope to witness better management of diabetes care in India with this initiative of the parties.

SOURCE: www.healthtechnology.in

5. ‘SCGEN’ – AN AI Tool to Predict Cell Behaviour

Researchers have created an Artificial Intelligence powered tool named ‘scGen’ that promises to reshape the way we study diseases and their treatment at cellular level. The research is published in the Journal Nature Methods where it demonstrates that scGen will help to map and study cellular disease response and treatment beyond the information accessible from experiments. scGen is the first tool to predict out-of-sample cellular reaction which means it is prepared to create credible projections for a distinct system if trained on information capturing the impact of perturbations for a specified system. As per scientists, scGen is a generative deep learning model that takes ideas from pictures, sequence and language processing and then uses them to model a cell’s behaviour conducted on a computer or through computer simulation. scGen is a part of computational biology which has the objective to accurately model cellular response to perturbations like illness, genetic procedures. The team further needs to work to make it a fully data driven formulation so that its predictive power is enhanced, and it permits better and more accurate analysis of perturbation combinations. SOURCE: www.healthtechnology.in

6. Artificial Intelligence may soon help spot Autism early on

It is difficult to identify signs and symptoms of autism in kids, but a recent study released in the Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences indicates that easy quantifiable artificial intelligence measures could allow for much earlier diagnosis of Rett syndrome and potentially other autism-like illnesses. Rett syndrome is a genetic disorder that impairs sensory, motor, cognitive and autonomic function from 6 to 18 months of age. The research has revealed that a machine-learning algorithm can detect pupil dilation defects that can predict autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in mouse models. In the research, the algorithm has shown to detect correctly if a child has Rett syndrome and autism-like behavior. Researchers hope that this algorithm will be able to provide an early warning signal not only for Rett syndrome but also for ASD. The team thinks that this tool can further be used in the future to monitor the reactions of patients to medicines as currently, it is testing the drug ketamine for Rett syndrome and a gene therapy trial is also in works. SOURCE: www.healthtechnology.in

7. Care4u: An Artificial Intelligence App for Geriatric Care

Second year students of B.Tech, IIT Kharagpur recently created an interconnected android smartphone application ‘CARE4U’ to promote elderly care by helping caregivers reach the elderly on time. To connect both the parties, CARE4U is mounted both on the elderly’s devices and the caregiver’s smartphone. The neural network based drop detection algorithm in the app on the elderly’s phone can identify whether the elderly has fallen down. In case of a fall, it automatically calls the caregiver and emergency services along with the location of the elderly. A unique feature of the app is that it detects emotion of the person by taking his/her picture and calculating their index of mood. To make this feature more effective, the team has developed a cognitive intelligent chat bot for better engagement of the elderly. Other features of the app include operations like calling, booking a taxi, sending a message, medical history record, an SOS button, an allergy account, real-time location monitoring and medicine reminder which reminds both the elderly and the caregiver the time of taking the medicine. SOURCE: www.healthtechnology.in

8. Itc Lamp: Hemorrhage Control Device

Massive hemorrhage is the leading cause of death in traumatic injuries, immediate control of bleeding is of prime importance in such scenarios. With a vision to effectively contain such situations of traumatic injuries a firm, Innovative Trauma Care (ITC) came into action. ITC, a Canada based early-stage medical device firm, focuses on developing point of care solutions for trauma, first responders and military medicine applications. With this vision, they introduced iTClamp, a hemorrhage control device for use in the extremities, axilla, inguinal, scalp and neck. The device minimizes blood loss until the wound is surgically repaired by sealing the edges of the wound. Research studies have shown that the clamp is superior to wound packing in terms of patient survival, survival time and total blood loss. iTClamp hemorrhage control system is one of the most unique devices and ideal for emergency medical personnel as it is simple to use, does an immediate fluid-tight and airtight wound closure within seconds. The clamping device works by sealing the skin closed to create a temporary pool of blood under pressure, which forms a stable clot until surgical repair of the wound is done. The device has been in the market for a while now and is a hit amongst the emergency first responders. The company is trying to address the unmet needs in the emergency medicine field by developing, manufacturing and commercialising point of injury solutions to control the common causes of preventable death in traumatic injury situations. SOURCE: www.innovativecare.com

Healthcare Newscope

Compiled by  Dr. Avantika Batish, working as the Director Strategy and Healthcare at International Health Emergency Learning and Preparedness. She is also a guest faculty for MBA (HR) and MBA Healthcare Management at various B-Schools and is a soft skills trainer.

Asking about if obesity is hereditary? Then, genes aren’t the most worrisome risk of obesity. An individual’s upbringing can be, the way the family raises, the daily food intake, importance placed on physical activity and how a person would take their behaviour model, are the bigger influences on likelihood of obesity than genes. Health is not valued till sickness comes, true isn’t? Obesity is not because it runs in the family!! It is because no one runs in the family!!!

Today, more than 95% of all chronic diseases is caused by food choice. Yes,being overweight is linked to a number of health and oral health diseases, including: heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, gallbladder and gallstones, breathing problems, such as sleep apnea (when a person stops breathing for a short time during sleep) and asthma, oral health problems such as caries, halitosis, poor oral hygiene, periodontal disease. Symptoms for obesity include breathlessness, Increased sweating, snoring, inability to cope with sudden physical activity, feeling tired, back and joint pain, low confidence and self-esteem, and feeling isolated.

Also Read: Exclusive interview with Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan

After being aware of the risks, proper health and oral hygiene should be maintained. And why is maintaining diet an important factor? Because a poor diet may result in lack of essential nutrients and vitamins thus potentially making it more difficult for your body to fight off an infection. A diet high in fat and calories, including large quantities of processed foods or sugar, and lack of physicalactivity, leads to obesity. Those same foods can cause oral health problems including gum disease, premature tooth loss and bad breath Our body craves for what is in our bloodstream. Wheat, sugar, alcohol, coffee and de-vitalized foods are designed to be addictive. Sugar being addictive – agreed. But how does sugar affect an individual’s health and oral health? Well, consuming sugar is bad for an individual, but consuming too much has become a norm and that can cause health issues. The only type of sugar the body needs is glucose, which it can make by breaking down carbohydrates, proteins and fats. When ingested, simple sugars are converted into plaque if not removed immediately. As plaque begins to accumulate on our teeth and gums, the risk of varying forms of gum diseases such a gingivitis and periodontitis, as well as tooth decay, may become inevitable.

In 2018, a study revealed that 170 children and young people have rotten teeth removed every day, undergoing general anaesthesia. That’s an unpleasant operation that is completely avoidable; we have got a lot of evidence to show that the main cause is excessive sugar. There are also links with type 2 diabetes, usually chronic disease seen in adults, but we are seeing more and more under the age of 25 these days.

Also Read: A Right Gesture Saves Life

So, what an oral health care professional should be aware of? Dentists must be aware of how nutrition impacts general and oral health, and how dental treatment can impact patient’s nutritional status. Oral health is strongly influenced by the daily intake of food; on the other hand, oral health can also play a significant role in nutritional intake and general health status. The dental caries is also a chronic disease and may be depend on oral hygiene, high intake of sugar added to food, lifestyle factor, and host factors (salivary flow, buffer capacity and buccal microflora). Relationship between obesity and gum disease – we actually don’t know if this is a one-way or a two-way street. For example, conditions like diabetes, the relationship is bilateral. Periodontal disease will affect diabetes and diabetes will worsen periodontal disease, so that could be a possibility here. What are the other reasons of obesity affecting gums and what would be its risk factors? Because of various dietary habits and improper maintenance of oral hygiene, chronic periodontal infection is an inflammatory state that is described by a deviation in microbial environment and composition of subgingival plaque bio films and accelerated destruction of tooth supporting structures. Thus, low glycaemic diet may be beneficial to our oral health. Periodontal diseases are also influenced by various risk factors including aging, smoking, oral hygiene, socio-economic status, psycho social stress, osteopenia, osteoporosis and various systemic diseases, which signifies that periodontitis does not merely occur as a consequence of plaque deposition but is also coupled with various other host factors. Also, on examination, obese adolescents exhibited multiple carious teeth, higher plaque index, gingival inflammation, bleeding on probing and probing depth compared to normal weight subjects of similar age.

Also Read: Minds of Medalists behind their Medals

An obese patient, whose lungs are often not large enough to lift heavy chest walls, can have trouble during breathing, especially when active. Also, during sleep the person might breathe through his/her mouth instead of nose, thus jaw is forced into an unnatural position for a longer period of time. This can lead to teeth grinding and development of an overbite, over jet or spacing between the anterior teeth.How can we, as dentists, help the obese patients? Dentists should include the evaluation of BMI in routine patient examination and eventually refer obese periodontal adolescents for weight reduction interventions like diet therapy, behavioural therapy, pharmacotherapy, so that they can have better control over periodontal inflammation.What are the practical considerations in dentistry? It can be difficult carrying out dental care for an obese patient: the maximum lifting weight for modern dental chair is approximately 140kg (23 stones). The position of anatomical landmarks may be less obvious if surrounded by fatty tissue, the landmarks for placement of an inferior alveolar nerve block can be impossible to palpate through excess soft tissue. It may be impossible to palpate cervical lymph nodes in a large neck. Also due to constant secretion of saliva, the mouth and teeth are rinsed and kept free off food debris and foreign particles, thus excess of buccal pad of fat hinders with self-cleansing action in the mouth. Because of lack of saliva present in the mouth, it can lead to dry mouth. Sip water frequently throughout the day and use alcohol-free antiseptic mouthwash daily for cure. A normal sized mirror is unsafe for retraction of soft tissues: a ‘lax’ tongue retractor can be useful.What is the alternative to conventional dental chair? Refer the patient to the hospital environment where the patient may be treated on an operating table or trolley. Another possible solution for obese patients is a custom-made chair such as DIACO dental chair. What is the difficulty faced during conscious sedation? When thinking about conscious sedation for obese patients, the potential difficulties in airway management and intravenous cannulation should be considered. The provision of inhalation sedation with nitrous oxide during which oxygen levels are maintained at or above 30% may be more appropriate. If intravenous sedation with midazolam is proposed, the overall benefit to the patient must be carefully weighed up against the increased likelihood of significant respiratory depression and the difficulties in managing a respiratory complication. New research suggests that the health of your mouth mirrors the condition of your body as a whole. A healthy smile can surely transform our visual appearance and the positivity of our mind-set.

‘Eat every two hours, sleep eight hours, have plenty of water and pray to keep calm. Most importantly, carry a smile on your face.’

About the author

Dr. Vishaj S. Maru is a dental surgeon. She studied dentistry at the D.Y. Patil School of Dentistry. She does clinical practice in Mumbai with a keen interest in academia and clinical dentistry.

2. Sensors to detect milk adulteration

According to a recent research published in the Food Analytical Methods Journal, IIT Hyderabad has developed a sensor-chip based detector system to detect adulteration in milk. This helps to measure the pH levels of milk through an indicator paper that changes color due to acidity of the milk. Currently,methods like chromatography and spectroscopy are used to detect milk adulteration, which are quite expensive, so the researchers at IIT used a relatively cost-effective process called ‘electro spinning’ to produce halochromic paper-like material made of nano- sized nylon fibres and load edit with a combination of three dyes.

They have also developed algorithms that can be incorporated on the mobile phones to accurately detect the color change. The algorithm captured the colors of the sensor strips after dipping in milk using the mobile phone camera and the data was then transformed into pH ranges. On testing with milk spiked with various combinations of contaminants, they found near-perfect classification with accuracy of 99.71%.

In order to get comprehensive milk quality check systems that can be incorporated in mobile phones or any other hand aids the team now aims to study the effects of mobile phone cameras and lighting on detection efficiency and hopes to develop sensors for other physical properties like conductivity and refractive index and integrate them with the pH detection unit.

SOURCE: www.timesnownews.com

3. TestCard: A card sized urine test at home

The UK-based Med Tech Startup Test Card has created a postcard- sized urine test that can be done at home and is very much similar to a pregnancy test, which is analyzed by an accompanying app to provide immediate results.The postcard has an embedded, pull-out urine test. The urine test has no electronic component involved in its usage. The postcard test is likely to be launched in the UK in April 2019. In the near future, TestCard also plans to screen diabetes products in India.

4. IOTA Bioscience creates body sensor smaller than sand grain

An American biotechnology Startup, Iota Biosciences founded in 2017 by Carmena and Michel Maharbiz has recently raised 15 million dollars for its in body sensor which is smaller than sand grain.

The University of California in a micro electrode research developed the sensors called ‘neural dust’ which then transfers the data wirelessly from inside the body.The Co-CEOs hold exclusive rights to neural dust technology which offers revolutionary therapeutic applications for various chronic health conditions from inflammation to motor disorders and eventually cognitive impairment.

The advantage of this small-sized sensor is that it uses ultrasound avoiding any danger that is associated with wire and battery-provided implants. Since they are smaller and can be implanted deeper into the human body than traditional ones available, neural dust can interfere directly with specific nerve clusters allowing more precise diagnostics and treatments. Iota’s devices can concurrently record information and stimulate nerves giving near instantaneous closed-loop therapies that could better treat diseases from the inside out.

SOURCE: TimesNow

5. Wand… Pacemaker for the brain

Scientists at University of California have created a wireless device called ‘WAND’ which works like a pacemaker for the brain and may aid in the treatment of disorders like epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease. Wand is a neuro stimulator that can monitor and stimulate the brain with electric current. This device is autonomous and can simultaneously stimulate and record electrical signals in the brain.

About the author

Dr. Avantika Batish, working as the Director Strategy and Healthcare at International Health Emergency Learning and Preparedness. She is also a guest faculty for MBA (HR) and MBA Healthcare Management at various B-Schools and is a soft skills trainer.

Top 3 Latest Healthcare Innovations for the month of May