Hyderabad: IITs take up 200 research projects for corona cure

Hyderabad: In a first of its kind of response to the health emergency the premier Indian Institute of Technology units (IITs) have joined the fight against COVID-19 taking up 200 research projects to find solutions to various problems posed by the virus.

According to the IIT Council's current status of COVID research, 198 projects have been launched in the last one month at various IITs in the country. "While some IITs are conducting the research interventions on their own, some others are collaborating among themselves to come up with solutions."

However, the unique feature of the majority of these projects according to the Union HRD Ministry is, "they are either short term or medium-term projects. Of the 198 projects being carried out, 44 are focused on Personal Protective Care Equipment (PPEs), to meet the immediate or near-future requirement for the doctors, nurses, health workers and the frontline personnel engaged, either in saving the lives of COVID positive cases or in preventive activities under medical and health services."

Similarly, the IITs were tasked to come up with COVID-19 testing kits and research teams are working on 21 projects to come up with a solution. That apart, the researchers are also engaged in 29 research projects being carried out in the sanitation area and 14 more related to the surveillance.

Considering the shortage of medical equipment which need to be ramped up within a short time the IITs have been working on 35 projects focused on medical equipment and robots to figure out efficient but low-cost solutions to meet the demand of the health sector.

Regarding the treatment areas, the researchers from biosciences and pharma and allied areas have been engaged in 31 research interventions related to the pharmacological and non-pharmacological areas. Another key component that the MHRD sought is the data analysis of the virus spread and related issues form a key component in decision making. Against this backdrop, the IIT has been roped in and they are working on 24 research projects focusing on data analytics, artificial intelligence to model epidemic patterns and disease dynamics.

Also, the IITDM at Kancheepuram is engaged in 3D printed ventilator splitters and PPEs Hands focusing on free door handles for surveillance and compliance during the lockdown and the IIIT Senapati, Manipur has been focusing on users' perception analysis and monitoring system for an actionable task in social media.

Department of Science and Technology (DST), Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Indian Council for Agriculture Research (ICAR) are among the other apex bodies who are focusing on the research interventions to the challenges posed by the Covid-19.