IIT Guwahati, Shri Sankaradeva Nethralaya develop device for early detection of Diabetic Retinopathy

A team of researchers at IIT Guwahati and Shri Sankaradeva Nethralaya Guwahati has developed a testing device to detect diabetic retinopathy at an early stage.

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati and Shri Sankaradeva Nethralaya Guwahati have jointly come up with a testing device that can help in detecting diabetic retinopathy at an early stage without the need for invasive testing.

The device consists of a small plate containing microchannels for the guidance of fluids. The team has also filed an Indian patent for this idea and device. Diabetic retinopathy is a serious non-communicable disease in India. It is caused by abnormal growth in the retinal blood vessels in people with diabetes and is usually worsened when the person is on insulin for diabetic treatment.

The research was funded by the Ministry of Human Resource and Development, Indian Council of Medical Research and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology was led by Dr. Dipankar Bandyopadhyay, Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering and Head of Center for Nanotechnology, IIT Guwahati.

“Currently, the first step in the test for diabetic retinopathy is an invasive eye exam, in which the eyes are dilated and the ophthalmologist inspects the eye. As people who have had eye examinations know, this is inconvenient, with blurry vision for a long time after examination”, Bandyopadhyay said in a statement.

IIT Guwahati said in a statement that “Researchers found that β-2-microglobulin (B2M), a protein found in tears and urine, is a reliable indicator for retinopathy. Armed with this knowledge, they set out to develop a device that can detect this protein in these body fluids.”

“We designed a microfluidic system, in which, the body fluid – tear or urine – was drawn into very thin tubes or capillaries, where they came in contact with the gold-antibody nanoparticles, and the change in colour was assessed to detect B2M”, Dr Bandyopadhyay said.

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