Did you know that one in four deaths in India occurs due to a heart-related ailment?

Did you also know that, as per the National Rural Health Mission, a whopping 61 per cent of primary health centres in rural India are functioning without a doctor, and almost half of the doctors in urban areas practice without a medical degree?

Taking cognisance of such alarming statistics, Manan Thareja, Hardik Khandelwal and Vivek Mishra of DAV Public School, Gurugram have developed a portable and low-cost solution that curbs the rate of deaths caused due to heart diseases.

“Called the ‘Portable Hospital,’ this is a smart solution that can measure the heart rate of a person in real-time, and provide instructions on what medical attention should be given to the patient,” begins Manan.

The portable device consists of various health monitoring modules, ranging from ECG to blood pressure, which together are displayed live on a dashboard, making it easy to work with.

“Once the electrodes are attached to a person’s body, a small screen will display a real-time graph of their medical condition, which can be shared with a doctor. Based on the person’s Electrocardiogram (ECG), the doctor can immediately propose solutions. The readings will be stored in an app that we have created so that they can be accessed at any given time. The app can also transmit real-time data to the doctor while the patient is being treated,” explains Hardik.

The best part about the solution is that it requires minimal manpower and all the raw materials are procured domestically, which ensures that they are affordable and readily available.

The trio has also been innovative in its prototype design by opting for open source programming, which allows for consumer-end modifications.

They plan to open source the code through which experts can experiment on the device to make it more effective.

“We have successfully conducted tests on several people and based on the feedback they are presently working on making the solution more effective,” concludes Manan.

In a country like India, where issues like connectivity and insufficient doctors prevail, this cost-effective solution can indeed change the face of healthcare.