October 19, 2024 - India has achieved a major milestone in its fight against tuberculosis (TB) with scientists developing a new cost-effective indigenous device. IIT Kanpur and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) have together developed a home-grown, hand-held portable X-ray device. This portable equipment will simplify and reduce the cost of tuberculosis diagnosis as compared to foreign X-ray devices which are available at a high cost.

The cost of the domestic machine, which runs on batteries, will be less than half that of the foreign machine, according to Dr Rajiv Bahl, Director-General of the ICMR. This will also enable testing of patients in their homes. Early TB identification will help start treatment sooner.

This X-ray machine is expected to bring a significant change in the healthcare sector. The government has set a goal to completely eradicate TB in India by 2025, and this machine could play a crucial role in achieving that target. In 2022 ICMR had given IIT-Kanpur scientists Rs 4.60 crore to work on this device. It took the scientists two years to come up with this machine.

Source: Media Reports