Innovations in Health Sciences: Affordability, Accessibility, and Availability
Through innovative technology and a mission to address health disparities and inequities, Amrita has offered free health care services to over 3 million patients worth over $72 million.
- Raman Cancer Diagnostic Tool
A realistic high performance noninvasive light-based diagnostic tool using Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) will make it possible for large scale screening of oral cancers, one of the most common cancers in India. This will enable early diagnosis and treatment that is vital for curing several forms of the disease.
- Computer Based Medical Simulation
The MEDSIM project allows health sciences students to visualize, learn, practise and experience a variety of medical skills and procedures in order to provide a simulated patient experience. MedSim is an e-learning platform that supports computer based medical simulations that replicate clinical scenarios by integrating 2D and 3D animations.
- Cloud-Enabled Smart Solution for Diabetes Care
The project utilizes the patented Automated Insulin Pump as well as the novel nonenzymatic glucose monitoring system developed by Amrita and linked via a mobile application developed by Wipro Technologies. Data from patients utilizing these devices are transferred via the mobile app to a cloud, thus providing an interface between a diabetic patient and a 24×7 diabetes helpline. The project holds tremendous potential for the 65 million diabetic patients in India today.
- Raman Cancer Diagnostic Tool
A realistic high performance noninvasive light-based diagnostic tool using Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) will make it possible for large scale screening of oral cancers, one of the most common cancers in India. This will enable early diagnosis and treatment that is vital for curing several forms of the disease.
- Digital Health at Every Doorstep
In a synergistic combination arising out of its partnership with Media Lab Asia, Amrita has developed an innovative wireless telemedicine system and network for digital health at every doorstep. By applying sensor and mobile technologies towards integrating smart and connected wearable Internet of Medical Things (IoMTs), Amrita’s wireless telemedicine initiative instantly enables a variety of common biomedical and public healthcare diagnostic devices to capture body parameters directly from people’s office or home and immediately transmit wirelessly through a combination of ultra high-speed WiFi and satellite networks.
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- Amrita Health Care Information System (HIS)
Amrita Healthcare Informatics Suite is a demonstration of Amrita’s leadership in research and development of state-of-the-art technologies. Amrita HIS is a comprehensive software solution that allows a holistic approach within and across clinical segments, delivering solutions with the innovation and synergy necessary to help move forward in today’s changing healthcare environment. The system not only helps in daily patient care management, but it also provides the foundation to foster research and development.
Multidisciplinary Collaboration in Science & Technology
Amrita has broken barriers and attained global recognition for its work in the field of Science & Technology. With a focus on innovative thinking, integrated research, and understanding and meeting the needs of the future, researchers strive to develop solutions with real-world applications for the betterment of society. The University promotes positive societal changes in communities, especially in India’s villages, through visionary, innovative technologies focusing on affordable and inclusive solutions.
- Karshaka Amrita Dhara IoT based Irrigation Control System
Amrita researchers developed a system that dramatically reduces water use in agricultural irrigation. In a pilot project on a 4 acre mulberry farm in Periya Puthoor village, Tamil Nadu, the Iot-based system was able to reduce the number of hours of irrigation from an average of 5 hours a day to one hour a day, thus dramatically reducing both water and electricity consumption.
- Integrated Nanomaterial Based Photovoltaic Storage Devices
The project combines solar cells with supercapacitors and batteries and integrates them with nanostructured thin film electrical storage materials with high surface area and storage capacity. A range of nanomaterials are investigated such as nanocarbons, metal oxides and a variety of processing techniques and deposition methods.
- Rural India Tablet Enhanced Education (AmritaRITE)
Using low-power android tablets, Amrita RITE surmounts inherent power and connectivity issues in remote rural areas and brings educational content that is multilingual and culturally appropriate to a person’s fingertips. Accurate character recognition software for multiple Indian languages aids in offering quality education to rural communities in Indian and breaks barriers to learning.
- MUDRA: Gesture-Driven Wheelchairs for Handicapped Patients
Various research studies conducted all around the world reveal that 75% of people with debilitating physical disabilities experience significant difficulties for their day-to-day movements. The system named ‘Gest-BOT’ uses a small camera mounted very close to the user’s hand, tracking the small movements of their fingers to understand the direction of movement of the wheelchair. A gesture recognition system which identifies the gesture is then interfaced to the wheelchair control system to move it to the desired location.
- Amrita Unmanned Aerial Systems
Addressing the pressing need for a medical payload dropping solution deployable during disasters like the Kerala floods and the Uttarakhand flash floods that paralysed India, Amrita researchers have embarked on a targeted delivery system carried on a multirotor vertical take off and landing UAV. This project seeks to draw from the disaster response expertise of the State Disaster Management Authority coupled with aerial robotics engineers at Amrita to deliver a scalable, effective and indigenious solution. So far, the research team has tested over 21 UAV variants, carrying diverse payload sizes and configurations for endurance of flight.
- IoT Based Crop Protection System
The Amriita team designed a solar-powered intelligent system that can be used to prevent crop damage due to wild animals. The system implements IoT technology along with simple sensors and makes use of four junction boxes that are central to the system architecture. This IEEE SIGHT funded project can improve the yield of crops and, in turn, help farmers to increase their income.
- Robotic Arms for Limb Amputees
In India, approximately 21 million people are physically disabled which mostly include limb amputees and paralysis patients, with at least 20 percent of people living below the poverty line having some kind of disability. Therefore, there is a need for a device which is of low cost and can be accessed by all classes of people to help them lead a self-dependent life. Researchers at Amrita developed a robotic prosthetic arm, with myoelectric sensors, that can be used for amputees.
- Solar-Powered E-Cycle
An energy capturing bicycle capable of generating free and clean energy was designed, developed, and deployed by an Amrita research team. The patented E-cycle has a hybrid system which integrates both cycle dynamo and a renewable energy source garnering sufficient energy for lighting a rural home.
- IoT System For Solar Based Rural Electrification
Mothakara, a remote village in the Wayanad district, Kerala, is inhabited by a tribal population of 40 families comprising around 260 people in 42 huts. In September 2014, Amrita performed complete electrification of this tribal village, to enable further improvements in social, economic, and educational areas. The University provides training to the local community, as a means to self-dependence, which can be remotely monitored and managed from the Amrita’s Amritapuri campus. Researcher at Amrita plan to replicate its success in several other villages across India through the Amrita Self Reliant Village project (Amrita SeRve) led by the Mata Amritanandamayi Math
- Jivamritam: Community-Based Solution for Clean Drinking Water
Launched by the President of India, Sri Ram Nath Kovind, on October 8th 2017, the Jivamritam Community-Based Clean Drinking Water initiative aims to install drinking water filtration systems in 5,000 villages and provide clean drinking water to over 10 million people throughout India. The project utilizes a community cost sharing approach for the operation and sustainable management of the systems. The systems are specially designed, low-cost water filters deployed in more than 250 communities across the country, enabling sustained supply of drinking water to all. Ongoing research includes water quality and monitoring, water resource management, interventions to enhance community readiness to adopt technological solutions, and identifying socio-economic characteristics of affected populations in the context of water epidemiology
- Amrita Water Distribution System – Water Management In Rural India
Recognizing the hardship of villagers, especially women, to collect and carry water for several kilometres a day, Amrita’s Chancellor encouraged faculty, staff, and students to work with members of Amrita Self Reliant Villages (ASeRve) and travel to villages in Rajasthan, Odisha, and Kerala to build water distribution systems for more effective water use and management and to enhance the system into an IoT framework. The project was an initiative of the University’s Live-in-Labs® program – an initiative that applies theoretical knowledge to address real world challenges faced by rural communities in India.
- Amrita Micro Hydro Electric System – Illuminating Rural India Via Renewable Resources
Komalikudi, a tribal settlement in Kerala is well-known for its abundant natural resources, but does not have access to electricity. After assessing the key requirements of the village, faculty, staff, and students designed, developed, and installed a distribution and transmission network which included a check dam, a network of pipes, a 5KW micro hydro generator, an underground transmission line, and a power house. The project was an initiative of the University’s Live-inLabs® program. A water distribution framework designed and developed by our team is currently powered by the micro hydro generator.
- Low Cost Biofuel Production
Agriculture is the primary occupation of villagers in Byse village, Shimoga district in Karnataka. One of the areas rife with opportunities is the conversion of bio-mass and bio-waste to fuel. Current methods employed by rural inhabitants to heat their homes and power-up their stoves are largely untenable. Bio-fuels, such as cow dung patties and charcoal, are of low calorific values and contribute to air pollution. Due to the high demand for more robust fuel options, in spite of their limited resources, significant research was carried out on two popular biofuel production methods: anaerobic digestion and pyrolytic gasification. This project aims to tailor these processes to suit the conditions of selected villages, and design and develop a minimal effort process that would enable villagers to produce and store liquid fuel for a significantly longer duration.
- Amrita Be Safe App to Protect Women
Researchers designed a new Android App, Bsafe, to monitor the safety of women with an innovative safety and location tool that keeps track of one’s location via GPS.. The app also helps keep track of a person based on creating a dynamic Geo Fence. One only needs to click on two boundary points within which a person will be around for the day. More fences can be added, if needed. One can add the mobile numbers of the desired parties so as to share the location info with them. The moment the person leaves the geofence, the app alerts the pre authorised parties. At any point of time, the authorized parties can find where a person has been since creating the fence. If at any point of time one wants to switch off tracking or disable the fences, they can login using their credentials and disable the service.
- Solar-Powered Vehicles
Amrita researchers and students built a solar-powered rickshaw which can run upto 50 km/hr. The rickshaw, weighing 320 kg, is fully driven by solar energy and can carry three people, including the driver. Each efficient semi-flexible solar panel weighs just 3 kg and a total of 12 panels provide up to 1200 W of power. The rickshaw houses a battery and BLDC motor, powered by solar panels, to maintain the cruising speed with the help of battery management and control systems. It has both mechanical and regenerative braking systems and travels a distance of about 100 to 120 km. The battery charging time under the sun is about 5 hours.Amrita Wireless Smart Grid
Amrita initiated the Wireless Smart Grid project envisioning a country with a reliable and efficient energy system with electricity access for everyone consisting of electrical providers, systems of power delivery, and smart buildings. To solve the present power crisis, using renewable energies such as solar and biogas, each building is integrated with a main grid and a renewable energy generator. Multiple projects in sustainable smart-grid solutions integrated with renewable energy technologies for rural electrification have been successfully implemented for seamless generation, transmission, and distribution in several villages since 2014
Building Self-Reliant Communities through Humanities & Social Sciences
Amrita engages in research and design in the Humanities & Social Sciences leading to inclusive development of under-served communities. Particular emphasis is placed towards strengthening the nation’s economic fiber and contributing social stability by empowering India’s masses through innovative technological solutions and resources for physical, vocational, and skill development.
- Women Empowerment Through Innovative Vocational Education & Training
In partnership with the United Nations Democracy Fund, Amrita researchers, the Women Empowerment (WE) Project offered computerized- Vocational Education Training (cVET) and Life Enrichment Education (LEE) to women with low levels of literacy living in remote, impoverished communities over an 18 month period. The project reached over 3,000 women in the Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu and over 900 in other states, totaling 4,000 women. The aim of this blended approach was to ensure students received required social and technical knowledge as well as the confidence and guidance to use their learned skills. The LEE curriculum includes courses on gender equality, community participation, health and family entrepreneurship, communication skills, critical thinking, and decision-making. The project brought in the development of state-of-the-art haptics technology for advanced vocational education and training and innovative approaches in virtual, augmented, and mixed reality user interfaces that transform uneducated rural women into a self-reliant, employable workforce in rural communities.
- Rural India Tablet Enhanced Education (AmritaRITE)
Using low-power Android tablets, Amrita RITE surmounts the inherent power and connectivity issues in remote rural areas and brings educational content that is multilingual and culturally appropriate to a person’s fingertips. AmritaRITE uses custom software for speed writing and language development. Available in nine regional languages, Aksharamala is a language-learning course that teaches alphabets and words by directly tracing on the tablet. Amrita Immersion Reading is a multilingual, English speaking and reading course that teaches language by picture association. It translates English words into regional languages designed in a way that helps students learn both languages simultaneously. Accurate character recognition software for multiple Indian languages aids in offering quality education to rural communities in Indian and breaks barriers to learning
- Saukhyam: Reusable Sanitary Napkins
Made of banana fiber, Saukhyam pads last for 4-5 years and are available for less than ₹ 500. Those switching to reusable pads now no longer need to spend ₹ 100 (or more) on monthly disposable pad purchases. Most disposable pads are not biodegradable and will pollute the planet for hundreds of years after being thrown away. In December 2016, the pads won the Most Innovative Product Award from the National Institute of Rural Development in India and was lauded at the UN Climate Change Conference in 2018 in Poland for its sustainable financing mechanism.
- Vulnerability Mapping & AI for Social Good
An interdisciplinary team of computer scientists and social science researchers are combining advances in AI and Machine Learning to create a suite of technologies to understand social vulnerabilities in rural communities, especially surrounding women. seeks to create a comprehensive vul- nerability mapping toolkit targeting policy- makers, NGOs, social workers and social scientists to design interventions leveraging points of change, identified by the toolkit. This project aims to collect data about women and girls, and will use technology and existing vulnerability mapping frameworks to develop an innovative new toolkit that will map the broad range of vulnerabilities in key areas. The toolkit will function as a decision making software/app to explore the pleni- tude of strengths and vulnerabilities, group and rank them, formulate solutions, assess risks, identify constraints and alternatives, and structure preferences and trade-offs; all with the aim to help to determine and design solutions and policy interventions that address the vulnerabilities, empower women, and advance sustainable development goals. Using a systems thinking approach supported by AI and GIS, the project seeks to benefit women across geography, time and context, enabling intervention simulations.
- Community-Based Self Help Groups for Self-Reliance, Education, & Employment
In the aftermath of the 2004 Tsunami, Amrita’s Chancellor initiated a community-based self-help-group (SHG) program known as Amrita SREE: Amrita Self-Reliance, Education & Employment Program. The training program was focused on empowering women through innovative financial strategies leading to their financial independence, emotional strength, and social respect. In providing vocational education, start-up capital, marketing assistance and access to micro-credit loans and microsavings accounts from government-regulated banks, Amrita is working to equip unemployed and economically vulnerable women with the skills and means to set up small-scale, cottage-industry businesses. Research has shown that empowering women with equal economic opportunity is one of the most effective ways to reduce poverty throughout entire communities. The first SHG has now grown to a network of over 13,000 SHGs with over 250,000 women.
- Community Sanitation through Democratic Participation>
The Women Empowerment: Community Sanitation through Democratic Participation was launched in February 2017. It is a two year, pan-India initiative jointly funded with the United Nations Democracy Fund and aims to address the issues of inadequate community sanitation, women’s health, and water management in rural India through improving democratic representation of women in community leadership and local governance. The project targets one village in 21 states in India and aims to empower at least 5,000 women in rural Indian communities to champion sanitation and community development, eventually reaching their entire village.
- Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY)
Amrita-PMKVY will enable socially marginalized and economically disadvantaged youth to access skill development that will be free of cost. The methodology that we adopt in providing skill development not only improves accessibility but also raises the standard and quality of vocational education. After completing the course, our trainees gain the technical skills required for employment and receive life skills that transform them into more socially responsible citizens.
- Low-Cost Wearable Assistive Device for Women
Amrita researchers designed and deployed a low-cost wearable assistive device for women in the rural villages (Dunda and Udalka) of Uttarakhand for assisting them to carry the conventionally used basket for carrying heavy loads Women usually carry 30 to 50 Kgs of compost, gas cylinders, grass, firewood in baskets. The device will distribute the load between the shoulder and hip region thereby reducing the strain over shoulders and spine. The research team has conducted technical and clinical studies to validate the efficiency of the device before deploying them among the women. Right now there are 27 devices deployed within these two villages.
- Mobile Vocational Education Using ICT
Skills training is the least accessible to those who stand to benefit the most from it. Making vocational education mobile may be one solution to this. In an effort to bring quality vocational education to the otherwise inaccessible regions of the diverse geography that India is, Amrita researchers conceptualised, designed, and built a mobile vocational training center. The project employs two models: the first brings training to the villages and the second model aims to carry innovation to the villages.
- Social Robots for Sanitation and Hygiene Education
Pepe, a hand-shaped robot with a small video screen mounted behind its green plastic exterior, was jointly designed by researchers from Amrita and the University of Glasgow, Scotland. Installed on a wall near school washrooms, its purpose is to interact with children as they pass by the sink and encourage them to practise proper handwashing. Installed at a washing tap at a local school, researchers used tele-operation to manage Pepe’s interaction with the students. It displays behaviours such as eye movement, speech, and an expressive mouth to influence children to wash their hands. Its pilot project in the Wayanad District of Kerala has proven to be a huge hit.
