NEWS


  • Ms. Rashi Dutt, a research scholar guided by Dr. Amit Acharyya won Intel India Research fellowship.

Media Coverage
  • Advanced Embedded Systems and IC Design Laboratory, members, IIT Hyderabad researchers fundamental research on Nanomagnetic Logic - Featured in IRDS™ 2020: Beyond CMOS.

    Scholarly contribution from the researchers of AESICD Laboratory, Dept of Electrical Engineering, IIT Hyderabad in the domain of Magnetic Quantum-dot Cellular Automata (MQCA) based Nanomagnetic Logic (NML) has been recognized and featured in the International Roadmap for Devices and Systems 2020 Beyond CMOS focus group report. This is one of the significant contributions from Indian academia/industry which is by data 0.1% of the global contributions towards the International Roadmap initiative by IEEE and other international bodies. The work featured in the IRDS™ 2020: Beyond CMOS, revisits the fundamental understanding of three input majority gate designed using nanomagnets working under the principles of MQCA. The team comprises Dr. Santhosh Sivasubramani, Dr. Chandrajit Pal, Mr. Venkat Mattela and Supervised by Dr. Amit Acharyya. The work appeared in the Institute of Physics (IOP) Nanotechnology journal. While speaking about this contribution Dr. Santhosh Sivasubramani says, "We are glad that our work has been featured in the International Roadmap. International recognition to this scholarly contribution in the emerging field of Rebooting Computing motivates us further to perform translational research from fundamentals to its applications. Energy efficient computing is the need of the hour and this work will certainly pave way towards it". Speaking about this contribution Dr. Amit Acharyya says "This is the first step towards futuristic computation. We are proud to be in the 0.1% of contribution from Indian Academia towards the global contribution for IRDS". This research performs the Boolean Optimizations on the unexplored configuration of three input nanomagnetic majority gate. In addition, the researchers have achieved area efficient and high-speed architecture design methodology for binary adder using this proposed majority gate. The results show promising aspects of its envisaged applications in next generation low power magnetic computing devices. Doi: 10.1088/1361-6528/ab295a
    [Ref: 1. International Roadmap for Devices and Systems (IRDS) 2020 Edition "Beyond CMOS" International Focus Group Report
    ]

    • Are Medical Device Parks Helpful for Indian Innovators?

      The government has approved setting up four medical device parks to boost Make in India initiative and produce affordable and high-quality medical equipment. According to news reports, the four parks will be set up in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Can this help the Indian healthcare sector handle existential challenge- Importing Medical Devices?
      A HE report.
      This is the story of a few health tech startups, their experience with med-tech parks, investors, their life cycle and challenges.
      India doesn't have stringent laws about patient data and privacy, which in turn is a gold mine for technology and medical device firms. However, we don't detect many companies offering the right solutions or surviving the Indian market stipulations.
      Why? Long Gestation Period?
      Take the case of the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad. IIT Hyderabad researchers have developed a low-power device that can monitor electrocardiogram (ECG) and alert patients and doctors in real-time about the risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). CVD tops the list of public health concerns compared to other diseases and has almost become the primary cause of human deaths, as per a survey of the World Health Organization (WHO). The leading causes include changings trend in lifestyle, unhealthy eating habits, tobacco usage, low fruit and vegetable intake and lack of physical activity and lot of stress. These factors necessitate developing a personalised CVD monitoring device powered by battery backup and with a very low form factor to achieve unobtrusiveness that works under the emerging cyber-physical system setup.
      This area was researched by a team comprising Vemishetty Naresh. PhD. Research Scholar, Advanced Embedded Systems and IC Design Laboratory, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Hyderabad and Dr Amit Acharyya, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Hyderabad.
      "India needs affordable and indigenous devices. That was the vision behind developing this tiny non-obtrusive cardiovascular healthcare assistant. The ratio of doctors compared to patients is below average; technology is the solution for healthcare. That's why we developed this intelligent device. It's not just an ECG device. Our algorithm recreates the diagnosis of the doctor based on ECG data points," says Dr Amit Acharyya. What does he think about government initiatives like Make-in-India? "Sustainability is the biggest problem in the startup world. It is nice to see that the government has set up these initiatives. But sustainability is the biggest issue," he adds. Interestingly, the government has recently announced setting up of more medical device parks. Will it help Indian companies?
      MTaI Chairman and Director General Pavan Choudary points out that Andhra Pradesh Medical Device Zone (AMTZ) is coming up very well and if successful, could become a torchbearer for other Medtech parks. "Setting up of Medtech parks should surely increase the production of medical devices in India, but the type of parks needed and their locations should be decided by what category of medical devices are we looking at producing, what type of investors we wish to attract and whether the regulatory entry barriers are commensurate with our ambitions. Medtech parks alone won't lead to an increase in FDI. FDI fell from $439 million in 2016 to $66 million in 2018. Jan-June 2019 figure of $108 million could be signalling a recovery. Let's ensure through well thought out policies and incentives that this time the growth endures." Many innovators think that government doesn't understand the needs of med-tech startups.
      [Ref: 1. "Healthcare Executive Dec 17 2019 ]

    • Medical Devices Market Size Is Anticipated To Reach USD 6170.72 Million at a CAGR of 22% By 2025 | Share Analysis, Future Insights, Growth Estimation and Industry Trends

      Medical Devices Industry News December 2019: Researchers at IIT Hyderabad have created a low-power device that can help to monitor ECG (electrocardiogram) and alert doctors and patients regarding the risk of cardiovascular disorders in real-time.
      [Ref: 1. "MedGadget Jan 15 2020 ]

      • IIT-Hyderabad designs low-power ECG data in realtime - Media Coverage:

        The ECG device has intelligent processing within it, which will be in a position to monitor the condition of the heart in real-time and can set an alarm when the heart condition deviates from normal.
        Dr Amit Acharyya, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Hyderabad, is one of the members of the research group. He spoke to Anjali Jha about the low-power device that can monitor Electrocardiogram (ECG) and can alert patients and doctors in real-time about the risk of Cardio-Vascular Diseases (CVD).

        Tell us about the new device and how is it going to help patients?

        This machine is a one-stop solution for the patients and doctors who have been using various types of ECG machines in the hospital, clinic, home, Holter and ambulances. This is a very tiny device and can be used as standard 12 lead ECG, reduced lead or single lead. This also has intelligent processing within it, which can monitor the condition of the heart in real-time and can set an alarm when the condition deviates from normal. Furthermore, it can also predict the probable disease that the patient is about to suffer. Currently, there are different types of devices available to address the aforementioned issues. Hence the proposed single stop solution is going to be very appealing to the doctors as well as the patients.

        Who will be most benefited by this device?

        The doctors and patients both will find this discovery to be beneficial along with the care-givers and care-takers of the patients who are in tremendous anxiety when their family members are admitted in the hospital. As CVD is one of the leading causes of mortality and can be prevented to an extent with early diagnosis, therapy and prognosis, the ECG device brought by us is going to be of immense help to the society. The device can detect various ECG abnormalities and comes with a prototype board that looks similar to a smartphone.

        How did you come up with the idea to develop a machine like this?

        It is connected with several incidents that happened with the near and dear ones in the family. However, in my opinion, the ultimate aim of the technology that we develop should be to translate into a product which will eventually help the society. With that thought, we started the work five years back and bit by bit the problem statements have been designed, challenges have been identified, the market has been studied and that's how the device was developed.

        What was the most interesting part for the team during the entire research?

        Every bit of this research was interesting and very difficult to distinguish. Having said that, I can tell you when we manufactured the device based on our design and our algorithm, it was a wonderful experience. Furthermore, it was adventurous when the field trials were being conducted.
        [Ref: 1. "IIT-Hyderabad designs low-power ECG data in realtime" ET Helath World 20 December 2019. ]