By Express News Service
BENGALURU : The Defence Research and Development Organisation has developed a system that is said to reduce the workload of healthcare providers as well as their exposure to COVID patients by eliminating the need to routinely measure and manually adjust oxygen flow to patients.
Called Oxycare System, the government is looking at procuring 1.5 lakh of these units through the PM-CARES fund at Rs 322.5 crore. DRDO has transferred the technology to multiple industries.
It has been developed in two configurations. The basic version consists of a 10-litre oxygen cylinder, a pressure regulator-cum-flow controller, a humidifier and a nasal cannula. The oxygen flow is regulated manually based on the SpO2 readings.
The intelligent configuration includes a system for automatic regulation of oxygen through a low-pressure regulator, electronic control system and an SpO2 probe in addition to the basic version. The system regulates oxygen to patients based on SpO2 levels.
Also, Non-Rebreather Masks are integrated with the oxycare systems for efficient use of oxygen which results in savings of up to 30-40 per cent.Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar visited the DRDO campus on Friday.
Also, the 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG) drug, developed by DRDO, is considered to be a game-changer in the battle against COVID, offering the potential of faster recovery for hospitalised patients.
