No more needles, as AI-tech based solutions deliver instant blood test results in minutes

Needle-free blood tests powered by AI and smartphone cameras debut at Niloufer Hospital, offering rapid, non-invasive diagnostics with potential for nationwide public health impact

Hyderabad: Imagine getting blood tests results in minutes on your cell phone, instead of waiting half a day in private laboratories or one full day in state-run labs. And what if you don’t even need a needle to get those blood work reports?

That’s exactly what the newborn babies, mothers and even care givers at Niloufer Hospital experienced recently, when a unique initiative, Amruth Swasth Bharat, was launched by Hyderabad-based health tech startup Quick Vitals.

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Initially launched at Niloufer Hospital and tested on first batch of children, the initiative is expected to expand to other parts of the country. To get their blood reports, all the patient has to do is to sit in front of a light source and wait for the results.

The Amruth Swasth Bharat is based on Photoplethysmography (PPG), an emerging technology that detects changes in blood volume within our skin’s tiny blood vessels. It operates by shining light from an LED onto the skin and then measuring the amount of light absorbed or reflected. As blood absorbs more light than surrounding tissues, variations in light absorption indicate changes in blood flow caused by the beating heart.

Until recently, PPG sensors were primarily used by smart watches (using green light) to track heart rate and oxygen saturation. However, companies like Quick Vitals have successfully integrated AI with PPG sensors, thus expanding their diagnostic capabilities.

The AI deep learning algorithms can now analyze the subtle and complex patterns within PPG signals to derive much wider range of health parameters such as Heamoglobin A1c, stress levels, blood pressure, in addition to heart rate, respiration rate and Oxygen saturation (SpO2).

“The technology is definitely promising and has the potential to be a boon for healthcare sector. Still, there is a lot of validation of the tests results have to be done. I will try to understand the results in more detail in the coming weeks,” says newly appointed Superintendent, Niloufer Hospital, Dr G Vijay Kumar on Tuesday.

Founder of Quick Virals, Harish Bisam said that Amruth Sewasth Bharat fully supports contactless spot checks through camera-based devices like smart phones. The new testing method is expected to be rolled-out in other States, especially Maharashtra in the coming months.

Amruth Swasth Bharat – Learn about this tech:

• Instead of needles, this tech utilizes LED to detect changes in blood volume under the skin

• AI and deep learning algorithms analyze the subtle, rhythmic patterns within the light signals

• They extract complex physiological data that goes far beyond basic heart rate.

• It measures BP, stress levels, blood markers like Hemoglobin A1c (for diabetes) and general Hemoglobin (for anemia).

• Amruth Sawsth Bhrat can be accessible to large-scale community and remote locations

• The non-invasive tech is promising for public health through early disease detection