Indian Innovators (4 page)

Mrinmayee explains that Romantaque is very simple to use. It needs to be applied 24 hours after a hair-removal session (such as waxing or threading) and then twice a day for the next 10 days. “This should be done after every hair- removal session and results are perceptible after the second or third cycle. Fewer hair regrow and hair is shorter in length and thinner. As hair growth reduces, so does the pain involved in hair removal. Also, you do not need to go for hair removal as often.

Hair removal from the follicle, for example, by waxing, epilating, threading or plucking, opens up the orifice and exposes the hair follicles. When Romantaque is applied regularly, these follicles are either partially or completely deactivated, resulting in reduced or no regrowth. Romantaque can also be used if you shave or use depilation creams, but the effect is slower, as can be expected.”

Mrinmayee shares her future plans. “We are bootstrapping and sales are gradually picking up. We hope to make it big this time.”

Mrinmayee’s story is a classic case of victory against all odds. The journey was long and arduous, but she did not give up. Her faith in her vision, and the ambition of turning it into reality, kept her going in the toughest of situations. She is indeed a great inspiration for all innovators and entrepreneurs.

Dr Shyam Vasudev Rao testing a patient with 3Nethra

Preventive Eye Care Device

At the age of 50, Dr Shyam Vasudev Rao is a “serial innovator”. An electronics engineer from Mysore, he completed his MS and PhD degrees at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru.

His first brush with innovation and entrepreneurship was in 1988-89 when he built a virus-free card – a memory card that could be used to carry data and had the ability to resist a virus attack. He did not have any prior experience, inherited fortune or connections, but undeterred, he successfully manufactured and sold the card to vendors across the country.

Those were the days when India was a closed economy and imports were discouraged, because they drained precious foreign exchange. The government encouraged import substitution – developing products locally that could be used as substitutes for products that would otherwise be imported.

Dr Rao also worked on process automation (that is, developing and customizing machinery for production) for rubber, chemical, steel and other plants, and the business boomed.

By 1994-95, however, the business environment in India had begun changing. After economic liberalization in 1992, many multinational companies (MNCs) entered the Indian market and it became difficult for small players to survive.

At the same time, India started emerging as a hub for software exports and many MNCs set up shop in the country to develop software for overseas markets. The Swedish communications giant, Ericsson had just entered India and was looking to set up an R&D facility in Bengaluru. Shyam received a job offer from them and decided to shut down his business.

Given his prior experience with technology and entrepreneurship, he was given the task of setting up the whole R&D center, right from recruiting people to identifying products that could be developed.

“It was a very challenging role, but with the right support from colleagues, I was able to execute it to perfection,” says Shyam. “In fact, within two years, Ericsson opened another center in Hyderabad and then another in Delhi. The employee strength went up to 600 in four years!”

Impressed with his performance, the bosses in Stockholm had him transferred to Sweden as a Strategic Product Manager. This proved to be a defining experience for him.

“I came across a very different way of life. For the first time, I was exposed to the process of developing products for the global market.

The Swedish researchers were never in a hurry to get results and analyzed problems in greater detail, as compared to their counterparts in India. As a result, the outcome was usually much better than what could be achieved in India.”

Unfortunately, in the early 2000s, Ericsson ran into financial problems, and in 2002-03, closed their R&D centers in India. Shyam was looking to return to India for personal reasons and realized that he would not be able to remain with Ericsson. He decided to switch to Philips and returned to India as the Technical Director for Philips in India.

“I came back to Bengaluru in 2004 and set up the R&D facility for Philips in order to develop products for the Indian market per Indian needs. The research center was extremely successful, producing five patents in the very first year, 20 in the next year, eventually reaching one patent per five employees per year.”

At Philips, Shyam got good exposure to medical devices and healthcare. In 2010, he quit Philips and set up Forus Healthcare, a company devoted to manufacturing low-cost preventive healthcare devices.

“A friend of mine from Philips, K Chandrashekhar (referred to as KC) joined to take care of the marketing, and thus, Forus was born. KC holds an engineering degree from BITS Pilani and an MBA from IIM Calcutta. He has extensive experience in the semiconductor industry and currently serves as the CEO of the firm, while I am the CTO.

Forus means ‘for us’, that is, healthcare for the masses – a sustainable system of healthcare provided for the community, by the community.”

Shyam explains that the deplorable medical situation in the country was one his reasons for setting up Forus.

“There is just one doctor for every 2,000 people in India. This is one-third of the world average. For specialties like ophthalmology (medical specialty related to eye care), the ratio is as high as 1:14,000. Also, the cost of healthcare is very high.”

Forus focuses on preventive healthcare, including everything from hygiene to regular screening for medical ailments. Shyam explains, “Most of the innovation in medical science is directed toward curative treatment. Preventive healthcare is much cheaper than cost of a cure (medicines, operation, doctor consultancy, diagnosis and so on).

At any given time, only 4% of our country’s population has access (monetary and physical) to curative healthcare. However, if we can ensure that preventive healthcare reaches 100% of the citizens, we can reduce the need for curative healthcare.

In India, access to reliable electricity is still a big problem in most parts of the country. Yet, there are hardly any screening and monitoring devices that run on battery. Thus was born the idea of making portable medical devices that run on battery and can be carried from village to village.

We came across Dr Aravind of the world-famous Aravind Eye Hospital. Dr Aravind is a very inspiring personality. He told us about blindness in India and how his hospital was using innovative methods to reach the poor and reduce the cost of eye-care. It was overwhelming to see the hospital’s services and its innovative business model that used doctors and equipment very efficiently.”

According to statistics from the World Health Organization, someone, somewhere in the world becomes visually impaired every five seconds. India has the highest number of visually impaired people in the world – 15 million of the 40 million across the globe. Unfortunately, 75% of blindness cases in India are due to reasons that are completely avoidable. Screening for and diagnosing eye problems and providing care, however, comes with its own set of challenges.

Ophthalmology requires expensive equipment. Even for screening/testing alone, at least two devices are needed for the anterior part of the eye and two for the posterior part. The equipment is bulky and cannot be moved easily. Thus, the same equipment cannot be used at two separate facilities; each would need its own, even if they are not being used simultaneously.

Furthermore, the process of testing and analyzing the results is quite complex and time-consuming and requires trained paramedics and ophthalmologists. The patient’s pupils often need to be dilated for screening, which again takes several hours for recovery. This is inconvenient and for a daily-wage earner, it may mean the loss of a day’s wages. That is one reason many of them avoid going to hospitals for testing, until absolutely necessary. However, by that time, it is often too late.

Shyam says, “If the screening process is automated, the doctor’s time can be used to look after only those patients who need his attention.”

That is what 3Nethra is designed to do. “3Nethra combines all four screening devices into a portable, battery- powered device, which anybody can be trained to operate. The device does not require the pupil to be dilated. It takes the image of the eye, analyzes it and comes up with the diagnosis on its own, without the need for an ophthalmologist. The report can then be presented to the ophthalmologist, if consultation is required (that is, if the ailment is detected).”

While the four screening devices together cost
15-20 lakh, 3Nethra costs only
5 lakh. It consumes just 10 watts of power and can last several hours on a single charge. The testing procedure takes only about five minutes and can detect five eye ailments – cataract, glaucoma, diabetic retina, refraction problems and cornea problems – diseases that contribute to 90% of avoidable blindness in India.

About 20% of diabetes patients face the risk of losing their eyesight. This is called diabetic retinopathy or simply diabetic retina. This is a big challenge in India, because the country is home to the highest number of diabetes patients in the world. There are about 50 million diabetes patients in India, with another 30 million on the borderline. Thus, almost 80 million people need screening twice each year for diabetic retina alone.

“If detected at the right time, diabetic retina can be corrected to restore normal eyesight and regular diabetes treatment can limit any further damage. But many diabetics (especially those belonging to lower economic classes) do not even know they have diabetes. If they are screened regularly for eye ailments, their diabetic condition would be detected as soon as their diabetic retina shows up. Thus, they can be treated for both conditions.”

Shyam reiterates how 3Nethra helps to optimize a scarce resource in India – ophthalmologists, especially those specializing in diabetic retina. “There are just 14,000 ophthalmologists in India, of which only 900 have expertise to handle diabetic retina. However, most of their time is wasted in looking after patients who can be helped by other ophthalmologists. Even these doctors want to treat patients who fall in their specific domain area, but are unable to reach out to them. With 3Nethra, it is possible. 3Nethra detects the problem and the report generated also suggests the nearest doctor who is capable of handling that problem.”

Shyam is happy with the tremendous response to the device. “We have achieved 50 installations so far, in villages as well as cities. Even established hospitals like Saraf Eye Hospital, Aravind Eye Hospital and Agarwal Eye Hospital, have bought the machine. We have supplied the machine to six other countries too. We plan to sell 200 units this year and aim to reach a level of 10,000 units a year by 2017.

On a recent visit to India, the US Secretary of State, Mrs Hillary Clinton appreciated our work and said that this innovation is as useful in the US as anywhere else in the world. She has assured us full support in getting funding and regulatory approvals. We have already tied up with I~
²
T Institute in the US for assistance in marketing our product in the North American market.”

Apart from rural health, 3Nethra also takes care of rural employment. The business model empowers small rural entrepreneurs and creates a self-sustaining ecosystem around the device that would not require government subsidies.

“A two-month course trains any graduate to operate and maintain the machine. The person can then either purchase or rent the machine to be used in his village and surrounding villages. He can cycle to each village with the machine and conduct testing for the patients at their home, charging just about
50. We want to achieve true democratization of healthcare – affordable to everybody, provided to the community by the community members.”