Pune: An indigenously developed ventilator by Pune-based Shreeyash Electro Medicals has won Marico Innovation Foundation's #Innovate2BeatCOVID Grand Challenge in ventilators and other respiratory solutions category. An announcement to this effect was made by Harsh Mariwala, Founder of the Marico Innovation Foundation in Mumbai yesterday.
Padma Vibhushan Dr Raghunath Mashelkar was the Chairperson of Governing Council of Marico Innovation Foundation and Jury chair for the Grand Challenge mentioned above. As the winner of the challenge, Shreeyash Electro Medicals has received a financial grant of Rs 43.5 lakh.
Speaking on this achievement Sudhir Waghmare, Founder of Shreeyash Medicals said, "We are indeed happy to get recognition from Marico Innovation Foundation and for emerging as the winner of the challenge. We have been in the field of design, development and manufacturing of medical equipment for NICUs since the past 30 years and have successfully developed a ventilator for newborn babies way back in the year 2004. In the current situation, where there is a big gap in demand and supply of ventilators we decided to indigenously develop ventilators for adults."
"The ventilators come with advanced features at par with most high-end, expensive imported ventilators. Most importantly, they would be available to the hospitals at a cost which is 75 to 80 per cent cheaper than the average price of ventilators currently available in the market", he added.
Waghmare further added that the ventilators designed by them are suitable for both adult and paediatric ICUs across the globe, and they can be used in both invasive and non-invasive modes. It can be set to an 'Automatic Ventilation' mode, which ensures continued safe ventilation to an unattended patient, which is probably one of the most important features of this device.
Moreover, it is equipped with a feature that allows doctors to control a wide range of both the volume of delivered air and the pressure that a patient may need, a feature commonly found only in high-end, expensive ventilators.
This indigenous development has completed the process of clinical validation and received endorsement by intensivists for use in ICU settings. The registration formalities of this ventilator have been completed with the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), India's national regulatory body for medical devices. The device has undergone testing for safety and essential performance of medical electrical equipment as per standard IEC 60601-1 by a NABL-accredited laboratory. About 50 such ventilators have been given to the hospitals located in New Delhi, Mumbai and Lucknow through distributors so far.
"We have an initial capacity of manufacturing about 200 ventilators per day, which can be increased to 600 units per day. The grant that we have received from the Marico Innovation Foundation shall be used to ramp up the production process so that these low price and high-performance ventilators can be of help in this pandemic", Waghmare concluded.
About Shreeyash Electro Medicals - Set up by Sudhir Waghmare in 1991, the company has been engaged in design, development and manufacturing of medical equipment required at the Neonatal Intensive Care Units. The company has two production units located at Katraj and Kondhanpur off Pune - Satara highway.
The outstanding work of the company has been recognised on various levels by the way of awards. Some of the prestigious awards include Best Small Scale Industry by the Government of Maharashtra in 1999-2000, Parkhe Industrial Merit Award in 2001 and the Udyogshree Award by the Mumbai Chamber of Commerce and Industries to name a few. It has also received a nomination for the very prestigious Thomas Edison Award in the USA in 2018.
Edited by:
Khevna Pandit