IIT Kanpur team develops cost-effective handheld X-ray device for TB screening
Indian scientists have developed an affordable, indigenous handheld X-ray device for tuberculosis screening for easy access to low-resource areas.
To increase tuberculosis screening in India, the country’s top medical research body has collaborated with scientists from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, to create a handheld X-ray device.
Indian Council of Medical Research Director General Dr Rajeev Bahl said that instead of relying on expensive handheld X-ray devices, Indian scientists have developed an indigenous portable X-ray machine to transform tuberculosis screening in the country.
“Handheld X-rays are available at a very high cost and now IIT Kanpur in partnership with ICMR has developed a handheld X-ray completely indigenously, which will be less than half the cost of imported handheld ” Dr Bahl told news agency ANI at the 19th International Conference of Drug Regulatory Authorities (ICDRA) India-2024.
This innovative X-ray equipment is set to be a game-changer for healthcare delivery, especially in under-resourced areas, providing a cost-effective alternative to imported equipment.
As Dr. Bahl said, the newly developed handheld X-ray will cost less than half the price of imported versions. This dramatic cost reduction is expected to make advanced diagnostic tools more accessible, especially to rural and vulnerable populations.
Even though tuberculosis is a preventable disease, more than 1.5 million people still die from it every year. Although chest radiography is a proven tool for screening TB, it is highly effective in detecting TB symptoms and is useful for confirming a probable TB diagnosis.
In 2022, ICMR granted Rs 4.60 crore to scientists at IIT Kanpur to develop a completely home-made, affordable and AI-enabled handheld X-ray device.
This handheld device will be battery operated and can be packed in a backpack and easily carried to hard-to-reach populations who currently face barriers to accessing health services.
Using handheld X-ray devices with TB detection AI solutions offers the opportunity to find TB cases even in the most remote settings.
Scientists worked with Lenac Technologies Private Limited to create this device.
Tuberculosis remains a serious health problem in India, where timely detection and treatment is critical to control its spread. Early diagnosis can greatly improve patient outcomes and help prevent transmission.
This could make TB diagnosis more efficient and affordable, in line with India’s broader goal of eliminating tuberculosis by 2025.