Fundamatics

Category: Current Issue

  • The Fan

    The Fan

    Photograph by Tertia van Rensburg

    No, not that type of fan– the star-obsessed weirdo, the one who tried to attract Jodie Foster’s attention by shooting President Reagan decades ago, or the jilted look-alike trying to destroy his idol in SRK’s 2016 Bollywood release.

    Not the old–fashioned wooden or cane punkha either. Neither the small hand-held ones we used during power-cuts a few years ago nor the majestic ones described in old novels – those that presided over the dinner table at parties and solemnly swayed to and fro when the fan-boy tugged on a rope. (more…)

  • BETiC: Innovating Indigenous Medical Devices

    BETiC: Innovating Indigenous Medical Devices

    India annually imports medical devices worth over Rs. 30,000 crores, most of them unaffordable and unsuitable for local population. There is a need to indigenously develop high-quality yet affordable devices for local manufacture and use. Biomedical Engineering and Technology (incubation) Centre or BETiC at IIT Bombay is bringing the relevant stake-holders together for this purpose. (more…)

  • To Make India Clean I Would Teach My Hand Some Manners

    To Make India Clean I Would Teach My Hand Some Manners

    Photograph by Gary Chan

    As a child, I observed my Mother would never throw down anything on the pavement. Like her, I carry home a banana skin, a used paper napkin if I cannot find a dustbin. Everyone thinks they are the only ones flinging out a tiny piece of uneaten apple out of the car window.

    But when many hands do that, it becomes a smelly heap. (more…)

  • How I Reclaimed my Life and my Health

    How I Reclaimed my Life and my Health

    Photograph by Anna Pelzer

    Long years ago, in what now seems like a previous lifetime, I used to drive every morning to work, and listening to the radio was an enjoyable distraction from the crazy traffic and a way to keep up with the latest music. Now I work from home and along with driving, listening to the radio has become a rare occurrence! But this morning I was in my car driving after a long time, and switched on the radio. Every single advertisement had something to do with illness – ads for medicines conveniently delivered at home, ads for new super speciality hospitals opening up, ads which tell you not to ignore stomach pain as it might turn into cancer, ads for health insurance which will cover not only the cost of your treatment abroad but also fly you and a companion there by business class! Just listening to the ads is enough to make you sick. (more…)

  • Domestic Pharma Firms Eye the OTC Opportunity

    Domestic Pharma Firms Eye the OTC Opportunity

    Photograph sourced from freestocks.org

    An attractive opportunity develops: About a decade ago, during an evening visit to the neighbourhood garden with her friends, my mother heard about a Vitamin E supplement that improved the quality of one’s skin and hair. One of the elderly ladies in the group had been prescribed the tablet by her doctor. My mother and all the other ladies in that group ended up checking with their doctors and then taking the Vitamin E supplement too. (more…)

  • Getting Water to Bhuritek: An Experience

    Getting Water to Bhuritek: An Experience

    One hot and idle afternoon in late May, I received a forwarded message from our Mumbai Chapter’s Rural Initiative Group (RIG) WhatsApp group.

    अशोक सर
    नमस्कार!
    भुरिटेक गावात पाणी पोहोचवल्याबद्दल तुम्हा सर्वांचे शतशः आभार.

    -भुरिटेक ग्रामस्थ

    OK, what’s so great… you would think. But it is a great thing, and I must tell you the story. (more…)

  • Limitations in scaling-up Ayurveda

    Limitations in scaling-up Ayurveda

    Photograph by Katherine Hanlon

    Yoga started in India, was exported to the West, became wildly popular there, and is now seeing a resurgence in interest in India.  Ayurveda, on the other hand, has not become anywhere near as widely accepted in the West as yoga has.  Passion, patriotism and antipathy to big pharma make an objective discussion on alternative remedies like Ayurveda somewhat difficult. What is tougher still is focussing the discussion on “genuine” Ayurveda and ignoring the myriad products that simply claim to be Ayurvedic. (more…)

  • Materials Intervention in Healthcare: Synthetic and natural nanofibres

    Materials Intervention in Healthcare: Synthetic and natural nanofibres

    Photograh by Jesse Orrico

    Today, we see great innovations and unforeseen interventions in the area of medical sciences and healthcare – whether these are low-cost sanitary napkins or highly sophisticated implants. The research community have even ventured into producing organs and artificial meat in the lab. And it won’t be wrong to say that materials development has contributed immensely to this disruptive development. Recently, I was reading about nicotine patches which basically function to satisfy the urges of mind and body, while avoiding the adverse effects of smoking. Transdermal patches like these also have one particular advantage, that is it reduces the need for frequent dosing, causes lesser systemic side effects and offer overall good patient compliance. Of course, bringing something like this to the market involves two things: one to make such interventions possible technologically and second cost optimisation to make it accessible to the people. (more…)

  • From the Beehive

    From the Beehive

    June, 2018 – July, 2018

    Healthcare is one of the largest sectors in the Indian economy both in terms of employment and revenues, and paradoxically, one of the greatest challenges facing our nation. A large number of minds from the IITB community are engaged in grappling with key Healthcare issues in various roles – as founders of NGOs that offer primary healthcare, as scientists researching drug discovery, as technologists and innovators solving problems related to delivery and devices, as incubators supporting and guiding start-ups, and as investors funding small firms, etc. In this issue of Fundamatics, we bring you some of their stories, as well as articles exploring different aspects of Healthcare.

    (more…)

  • The NanoHealth Story: A new way to look at your health

    The NanoHealth Story: A new way to look at your health

    Photograph by Jesse Orrico

    Being son of a doctor, I saw healthcare from very close quarters but the fact that it kept my father so busy, I chose the easy way out, become an engineer! After finishing 4 eventful years at IIT, the only goal for me was to land up in a good job. While at IIT, as creativity flows, I did come up with an idea for a non-stop transportation system, and shared that with my friends and they couldn’t stop making fun of me for next 3 days. That self-consciousness and fear was enough for me to not pursue on the idea. 10 years later when I sent a link showing a prototype and a patent on the same idea, guess what my friends did, laughed at me again! This time for me not having the conviction to pursue my idea. I believe they were right. (more…)