DRDO Develops Bio-suit To Safeguard Doctors From COVID-19
Doctors professionals, paramedic staffs, nurse and other health care workers put their life at risk as they work relentlessly to treat patients with COVID-19 pandemic that has grasped the globe.
The bio-suit was developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in an initiative to protect the front line workers from the COVID-19.
The Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) was developed with a specific type of fabric with a coating, by the researchers at different DRDO labs with their technical knowledge and expertise in the textile, coating, and nanotechnology.
This bio-suit has been developed with the help of the industry and is subjected to screen for protection against synthetic blood as well as textile parameters. The synthetic blood gives protection beyond the requirements defined by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for bodysuits.
DRDO will be producing the raw material as well as the coating material collaborating with Kusumgarh Industries. An additional vendor is being brought in having the experience in garment technology and also initiatives are on to ramp up the production to 15,000 suits per day.
The manufacturing capacity of the organization is 7,000 bio-suits/day.
In spite of that
, the DRDO stated, due to the non-availability of seam securing tapes, the bio-suit manufacturing is being hindered but this is not an obstacle. The organization has prepared a sealant drawing motivation from sealant used as an alternative in submarine applications.The suits developed with this glue by an industry partner has cleared the test at SITRA (Southern India Textile Research Association), Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. This initiative can be a turning point for the textile sector. Mass production of the glue can be done by DRDO with the industry to support the seam sealing activity by bio-suit manufacturers.
Author: Sruthi S
