Imagine an entire path lab miniaturised into a small chip to make the diagnosis of diseases faster and more accurate.

That’s what Achira Labs, a Bengaluru start-up has pulled off. The technology is expected to slash diagnostic costs dramatically, and will be out in Bengaluru by the end of the month.

The company is first taking the innovation to the private market, and wants it, in due course, to reach government primary health centres.

In a week or so, clinics will be able to do their own testing for thyroid and fertility. By the end of this year, diseases like malaria, dengue, and typhoid will also be added to the list.

Tests done on the new device cost 30-50 per cent less, and the results are outwithin 30 minutes.

Since its inception in 2009, Achira Labs has been developing advanced microfluidics-based diagnostic solutions for Indian and global markets.

Dr Dhananjaya Dendukuri, co-founder and CEO, has worked with a team of scientists and engineers for three years to miniaturise the functions of a diagnostic lab on a tiny chip. This will allow doctors to do blood tests at their clinics and take immediate decisions.

The innovators worked with microfluidics and optics to analyse the chemical constituents of blood samples. The technology was incorporated into the ACIX-100, a portable device.

Dr Dendukuri says, “It took us three years of R&D to come out with this reliable and accurate technology. The full research was done in our lab and is wholly indigenous. By May end, it will be out in Bengaluru, and will then go to the rest of Karnataka. We want to take it across the country later.”

Pat from Prez

Achira Labs recently won a national award from the President forindigenous product commercialisation. It was presented by the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council, a public sector enterprise under the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology. Achira Labs has been recognised as one of the most innovative biotechnology start-ups in India. Its flagship commercial platform, ACIX 100, uses a plastic, microfluidic device to perform rapid and multiplexed immunoassays with a small volume of blood or serum. Test panels have been developed for thyroid, fertility and some infectious diseases. They also developed the world’s first fabric-based sensors to perform clinical chemistry and qualitative immunoassays.

Innovator an MIT alumnus

Dr Dendukuri, a Ph D in chemical engineering, is an alumnus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and IIT. He holds 25 patents across key international markets.

Recognised for his role in developing low-cost medical testing technologies, he was awarded the TR3 Award by MIT Review magazine. The award is given to innovators under 35. He was one of 20 Indian innovators---selected by Nasscom, TiE and IIM Ahmedabad’s CIEE India---to be part of the India-US Startup Konnect, held in conjunction with PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Silicon Valley in 2015.