‘MiraCradle – Neonate Cooler reduces the treatment cost by 80-85 per cent’

Samit Jain, MD, PLUSS Polymers talks about their recently developed solution for neonates, CMC Vellore’s role in the process, the advantages of the solution in the Indian scenario and more, in an interaction with Lakshmipriya Nair

Tell us about your recent solution for neonates.

MiraCradle – Neonate Cooler is an affordable passive cooling device which uses the advanced save phase change material (PCM) technology to induce therapeutic hypothermia among newborns suffering from severe birth asphyxia. It has been developed by Pluss Polymers in collaboration with Christian Medical College, Vellore. It is easy to use, safe, light weight, portable and gives precise temperature control of 33-34°C for a period of 72 hours needed to treat newborn babies suffering from asphyxia. It requires minimal manual supervision and does not need constant electricity supply. This makes it extremely usable in countries like India, where power problems persist.

What was the inspiration/ rationale behind launching/ developing such a solution?

As a company, Pluss has always believed in developing products which are new to the country and helps the society in general. When CMC Vellore approached Pluss Polymers to develop a device for treating babies suffering from birth asphyxia, it was in sync with the philosophy of the company. An affordable device would help save lives of almost 150,000 babies every year who are born with severe birth asphyxia. The business proposition was secondary in this case for Pluss. It was the idea of helping the society overcome such a huge disease burden which inspired Pluss to invest in this project. The initial success in this has motivated us as a team to and we are in the process of coming up with a couple of more affordable healthcare solutions, that would go a long way in helping India take healthcare to the masses.

Tell us about the investment that went into developing this solution?

The product has been developed over a period of two year with CMC Vellore. Investments have happened in terms of time and resources for developing the right material for the product. Five member strong R&D teams have worked on this project for the past two years. Collaboration with a professional design firm helped design a safe, ergonomic and easy-to-use product. The product was designed under the Government of India and National Institute for Design, Ahmedabad’s, and Design Clinic Scheme for MSMEs. A lot of development and research went into identifying the right composition of materials for developing the thermal energy storage material – which forms the key component of the product. Some of the raw materials have been sourced from across the world. Within India, the most appropriate supplies were sourced and developed. Investments have also happened in terms of developing the right infrastructure for manufacturing the product. A special clean room has been set up for assembling the product. A high capacity sigma mixer has been procured for manufacturing PCM’s in large quantities. We are working on getting the ISO 13485 certificate for the manufacturing unit and CE certificate for the product. Currently, the total investment for developing the product is approximately over Rs two crores over a period.

What was CMC Vellore’s role in developing the product?

Christian Medical College, Vellore has played a critical role in developing the product. All the clinical trials and medical aspects of the product have been taken care by the team of doctors at Department of Neonatology, CMC, Vellore. CMC Vellore conducted a series of trials so that the right design and PCM is developed which will maintain the temperature between 33°C and 34°C for a period of 72 hours. The collaboration has not ended with the development. CMC Vellore has helped further in developing the right protocol for use of the product and continues to provide training to doctors with the help of workshops and conferences on using the product.

How cost effective is the solution in the Indian scenario?

In India and across the world, only expensive electronic instruments are available. These cost approximately Rs 15 lakhs and cannot be afforded by most hospitals in India. Currently, there are only 10-15 such devices in use in India. Almost all the babies suffering from severe instances of birth asphyxia, do not even receive the treatment because of the unavailability of the device; and for some who get treated, the treatment cost is too high. MiraCradle – Neonate Cooler costs 1/10th of this and it reduces the treatment cost by 80-85 per cent. More importantly because it is a non-electronic solution it can even be used at remote places where electricity is an issue. It is easy for hospitals to acquire this, as it is not a high one time investment. The hospitals can afford to keep more than one such device so that more babies can be treated at the same time.

What is the way forward for this product in India? How do you plan to market it in the Indian market?

Awareness and education about the product is the key. Pluss has partnered with 16 hospitals across India who will serve as nodal centres for creating awareness about the therapeutic hypothermia treatment and for training the doctors on using MiraCradle – Neonate Cooler. Various workshops are also being planned to educate doctors. The product is being showcased at all the national and regional neonatal and paediatric conferences in India. The company has appointed distributors who cater to the neonatal field in the Western, Southern and Eastern regions of India. Their reach will be utilised to expand across every nook and corner of the country. We hope to reach all the neonatal centres in India in the next two years and help save as many babies as possible. This will help India meet its MDG -4 goal targets too.

The company is also looking at partnering with the central and state governments to take the cause of birth asphyxia forward. WHO, UNICEF and other health organisations are also being approached for working jointly on taking this to the masses.

Any healthcare set ups who have already installed this solution?

The product has been widely accepted across the country. It is currently in use at 16 hospitals across nine states in India and over 70 babies have been saved using MiraCradle – Neonate Cooler.

lakshmipriya.nair@expressindia.com