IIT Kharagpur researchers develop telemedicine software to provide remote consultation

IIT Kharagpur researchers develop a telemedicine software that can facilitate critical health care support to patients on their doorsteps through remote consultation by a physician.

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur has launched a telemedicine software that facilitates critical health care support to patients at their doorsteps through remote consultation by a physician. The system iMediX which is accessible by any standard internet browser and also from a mobile device has been developed by researchers at IIT Kharagpur, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, an institute spokesperson said.

In the system designed by a team of researchers, a patient has to sign up to get an account by providing his/her Email ID or mobile number. Then the patient can make a request for consultation by choosing a department of the hospital, entering his/her chief complaints and uploading necessary scanned medical records. The hospital administration processes the request and assigns a doctor. The doctor after logging in sets an appointment date and time for the patient and the system communicates the information to the patient by mail and SMS. On the day of the visit, the doctor consults the patient using video conferencing and advises him/her by writing a prescription, which is sent by mail to the patient. The patient can also download the prescription from her account.

Professor Jayanta Mukhopadhyay, the lead researcher said: "As the number of cases of home isolation and home quarantine is increasing, the system will cater to the needs of the present situation. It would be useful also to follow up and treat aged patients." Professor Mukhopadhyay further added: "iMedX is being adopted for public use right at its home, IIT Kharagpur on-campus healthcare system."

Director of IIT Kharagpur, Professor V K Tewari said: "In April we had announced eight R&D projects for providing COVID-19 healthcare services. This telemedicine project was key among these especially keeping in mind its effectiveness in our own community. When our campus will start operating in full strength close to 30,000 people including students would be in need of healthcare services and this technology will reduce over-exposure of the healthcare staff while efficiently catering to the population. While we are promoting physical distancing, it seems only appropriate to introduce this digital platform to meet the healthcare needs of the campus community effectively."

The researchers are already in touch with healthcare MSMEs for commercialisation of the copyright version of the technology, Mr. Tewari said.

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