Portable COVID-19 Hospital Units By SCTIMST & IIT Madras Start-up
The need to set up systems to improve health infrastructure, particularly in rural areas has been highlighted during the COVID 19 pandemic. Soon, a solution to tackle the increasing demands for health infrastructure could be provided by portable hospitals, which can be used for identifying, screening, detecting, isolating, and treating COVID-19 patients in local communities.
An autonomous institute under DST (Department of Science and Technology), Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST), in collaboration with a start-up incubated by IIT Madras, Modulus Housing, have developed portable microstructures, a solution using a decentralized approach to detect, manage and treat COVID-19 patients in local communities. The portable microstructure named “MediCAB” has been developed by scientists from SCTIMST, Mr. Subhash NN, and Mr. Muraleedharan CV, along with Modulus Housing Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Shreeram Ravichandran, and his associates.
MediCAB can be customized as per the requirements of the customer and it is portable, modular, easy to set up, and durable. It is composed of four zones – a medical room/ward, an isolation room, a doctor’s room, and a twin-bed ICU, maintained at negative pressure. It has in-built electricals, which are
just plug-n-play, and the whole microstructure is foldable. Anywhere in geographic locations, it can be easily transported and installed, and with the help of four persons, it can be erected in just two hours. The cabins in the MediCAB are dust-proof and are tightly sealed. MediCAB can withstand heavy rains and harsh weather.The model is convenient for storage and transportation as it can be shrunk to 1/5th of its original size as it comes equipped with a prefabrication modular technology and a telescopic frame. These portable units come in three sizes of 200, 400, and 800 sqft, and according to the needs or availability of space at the facility, the units can be installed at the car parking or at the terrace of the hospital. Currently, at a cost of Rs 16 Lakh (INR), a 12 bedded hospital in Waynad, Kerala at Primary Health Care, Varadoor- Govt. Organizations and another 30 bedded hospital at a cost of 34 lakhs at Chengalpet, Chennai at Sugah Healthcorp Private Corporation have been successfully installed as four-zone hospitals.
In order to make these mobile hospitals can be launched rapidly as COVID-19 isolation wards, the Modulus Housing team says that they are working on a dual design. During flooding, emergency housing solutions have been delivered by Modulus housing to prestigious clients across sectors such as Selco, Shapoorji, Tata Group, and L&T. The Union Human Resources Ministry on its social media platform highly praised the effort.
Secretary, DST, Prof Ashutosh Sharma said, “To effectively address the needs of disasters, pandemics, and other contingencies, portable, foldable, pre-fab hospitals that are easy to assemble on-site quickly provide a compelling solution.”
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Portable COVID-19 Hospital Units By SCTIMST & IIT Madras Start-up
