The current coronavirus crisis has put safety of doctors into question. With the increasing number of cases, the chances of medical staff contracting the virus has grown. The need of the hour is to protect the frontline workers in the Pandemic and this has led to startups coming with innovative ideas to reduce the risks for health care workers. HELYXON, a Chennai-based startup is using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to combat this problem. Its products, 98.6 Fever Watch and OXY 2 are AI-enabled and help the doctors to monitor their patients digitally.
Vijai Shankar Raja, founder of HELYXON has 32 years of experience in healthcare sector and he identified affordability, reach and trust as the biggest challenges of Indian healthcare industry. They developed the machines in collaboration with IITM’s Healthcare Technology Innovation Centre (HTIC). Started in 2014, the main aim of HELYXON initially was to monitor newborns.
The asymptomatic and mild symptoms patients can be monitored using HELYXON products either from home or from isolation ward while the seriously ill patients will need ICU observation. The 98.6 Fever Watch is an AI-based wearable biosensor device that can be attached in patient’s armpits. It will record patient’s body temperature and alert doctor if there’s any sudden change. This machine collects data on a continuous basis and sends it to the mobile phone via Bluetooth. This then moves to cloud by GSM or Wi-fi and then doctors can access the saved data on their screen. The device can also help in keeping a tab on the patient’s movement via geo-fencing tracking alerts. It also keeps connectivity in check so that patient doesn’t remove the device.
OXY-2 takes it a step ahead as it can monitor body temperature, heart rate and oxygen saturation in real-time. It provides the benefit of checking thousands of patients together without physical visits. The My+Health app allows patients to consult their doctors virtually. The 98.6 Fever Watch is available for Rs 2500 while the OXY-2 costs Rs 8000. Seeing current needs of oxygen and extensions, OXY-2 can come up to Rs. 13,000-14,000.
HELYXON currently has 130000 patients and it has partnered with a medical college and private hospital in Chennai where they have supplied 25 units until now. Vijai tells that the products are already in demand from multiple countries. They can produce upto 10,000 units a week but they plan on matching their production with the demand. HELYXON definitely can prove to be beneficial in world’s fight against coronavirus.