Anna university gets 23 crore to develop anti-biogram

“This is a five-year plan and the university has received an initial instalment if Rs 23,12 crore. Rs 75 crore is the maximum we can receive from UGC. In the proposal, we had presented the manual of an anti-biogram scope which helped us bag the funds,” said Professor S Muttan, HOD, Electronics and Communications. 

In the UPE programme, the university will focus on limited manufacture of Automated Biomedical Device Development for Commercialisation with the development of Automated Antibiogram cum Pathogen Identification Device (Bactibiogramoscope). 

The anti-biogram device is a portable optoelectronic gadget meant for determining the antibiotic susceptibility as well as resistance within six to eight hours or before the second dose of anti-biotic.  It also enables doctors to view the anti-biogram report on their mobiles, tablets or computers. 

“The method requires six to eight hours to generate the anti-biogram report as compared to two-three days taken by the Disc Diffusion method. This method requires addition of sample to medicines, distribution of Microwells and reading the results,” says K Shankaran, professor of Bio-Technology department who developed the anti-biogram. 

Professor Muttan developed the image processing tool which helps in finding out the right anti-biotic through fluorescents indicating the susceptibility and resistance. An interdisciplinary team including Biotechnologists, engineering faculty from Medical Electronics, Electronics and Communication Engineering, Instrumentation, Mechatronics and Medical Physics will be working on the project.        

“Over a period of time, we will bring out various versions of fully automated bactibiogram scope which will help profile the bacteria. It is a proud status that the UGC had asked us to indulge in Research, Development and Commercialisation, taking inspiration from the PM’s Make In India programme. 

It is the first time that the university has got such a status. Using the funds, we will develop a national facility for limited in-house manufacturing of such equipment’s,” Muttan said.