1. Faculty Research Accomplishments

(July 2021 to December 2022)

Faculty Details	Research Details
Dr. Sucharita Mitra (Sarkar) Associate Professor, Department of Electronics	Fellow at the Centre for Digital Health, Public Health Foundation under the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) Visiting Scientist Program 2022-23. She visited Star Arogya Digi Seva Assisted Telemedicine Clinic, at 5th Main Road, Nanganallur, Chennai-600061 to observe the functioning of Digital Health Unit of PHFI at Chennai during the period 18th November to 23rd November, 2022.
Dr. Satabdee Banerjee Assistant Professor, Department of Commerce	Pursuing Post-doctoral Fellowship programme at the University of Mauritius from 1st November 2022 for a period of one year. Her project is on “International Trade, FDI and Sustainable Development: An Exploration of the Indo-Mauritian Linkages”
Dr. Santanu Pan Assistant Professor, Department of Physics	Completed Phd from Jadavpur University on “Experimental Study of Ultrafast Spin Dynamics in Ferromagnetic Thin Films and Multilayers” on July 2021
Dr. Pubali Goswami State-Aided College Teacher Department of Economics	Completed Phd from the Jadavpur University on “Issues related to agriculture in West Bengal: District level analysis” on August 2021
Dr. Sangita Pal State-Aided College Teacher Department of Physiology	Completed Phd from the University of Calcutta on “Comparative assessment of gender difference in exercise induce oxidative stress, haematological alteration, skeletal muscle and cardiac muscle damage following high intensity exercise in healthy school going boys and girls” on July 2022
Dr. Pitambar Das Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics	Completed Phd from Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad on “Some Efficient Estimation Strategies in Sample Surveys” on September 2022
Dr. Aloka Roy Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science	Completed Phd from the University of North Bengal on “Women Legislators of West Bengal: A Study of Political Leadership Since 1990s” on September 2022

 

2. A visit to observe the functioning of Digital Health Unit of PHFI at Chennai

Dr. Sucharita Mitra(Sarkar), Associate Professor

Department of Electronics, Netaji Nagar Day College, affiliated under Calcutta University

 

Introduction:

During the period, 18^th November to 23^rd November, 2022, I visited Star Arogya Digi Seva Assisted Telemedicine Clinic, at 5^th Main Road, Nanganallur, Chennai-600061 as a part of my INSA Visiting Scientist Fellowship Program.  The visit to this clinic had been advised by Dr. Arun P Jose, Dy. Director at Centre for Digital Health, Public Health Foundation of India(PHFI). At the time of my visit the clinic was being officiated by Medical Officer -  Dr. Sethuraman, Project Coordinator - Mr. Deepak Kumar,  Quality Assurance Officer - Ms. Anbumathi, Tele Nurse - Ms. Lavanya and Community Mobilizer - Ms. Shazeeba.

                          

                                                            Fig. 1 With the members of the Clinic

As per my observation, the clinic was functioning as follows:

1. When a patient comes to the clinic for the first time, he/she has to meet with Quality Assurance Officer who collects all the demographic data. Apart from this, the reason of coming is sought for and any past medical history is recorded in a Tab with the help of Tia Tele PHFI platform which is a part of Digisahayam software developed by PHFI. All patients have to sign a consent form for tele-consultation.

 

 

 

 

 

                 Fig. 2 Consent Form                      Fig. 3 Tab with Tia Tele Platform              Fig. 4 After opening Tia Tele

1. Then the patient meets the Medical Officer for consultation. The Medical Officer prescribes medicine. Alternately, if any specialized consultation is required, the Medical Officer at once refers the patient for tele-consultation.  The patient is then shifted to a specific room having necessary arrangements for telemedicine consultation with a specialised doctor. This doctor then prepares a prescription through Tia Tele PHFI platform using a laptop.

       

Fig. 5 Tele Consultation with Doctor and Patient

1. All the testing reports (if any) are uploaded by the tele nurse through the same platform using the tab. If a doctor need to hear chest sound of some of the patients, ECOSTETH is used to record patient’s chest sound and uploaded immediately through the same platform for required diagnosis.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fig.6 Observation and demonstration of ECOSTETH

1. ECG monitoring is also done for few patients in case they had mentioned some cardiac related issues or has had any past history of cardiac disorder. ECG is done with the help of KARDIOSCEEN device which is Bluetooth enabled. This device is also able to store data into cloud storage for future reference. The ECG data is taken by the tab and sent directly to the doctor’s laptop in image form in PDF format with the help of same platform.

                                                  

Fig.7 Observation and demonstration of CARDIOSCREEN Device

1. For female patients with more than 35 years of age Haemoglobin and sugar test is compulsorily done. Otherwise these examinations are done only if felt necessary. The test reports are readily uploaded into the portal from the testing devices.

                            

Fig.8 Observation and demonstration of sugar and Haemoglobin testing device

1. For all patients, Blood Pressure, height and weight are noted and BMI is calculated to get the triage factor.

                              

Fig.9 Data entry and Blood Pressure monitoring of patients

1. Usually 2 or 3 camps are organised every month in the clinic or in the locality depending upon availability of doctors.
2. Apart from these, an audio visual awareness campaign is going on in the clinic continuously to bring about awareness among general people about the best practices for a good health.   

My views / observations from the visit

This is a very good initiative from PHFI for development of Telemedicine Clinic. It will be better if this type of clinic is established all over the India especially in remote places where internet facility is available but specialised doctors are unavailable.

Data preservation is an important tool to grow our own health statistics. In a developing country like India, the normal health parameter of people varies region to region due to different food habits, body structure and weather. So we need to record and create regional health statistics to get individual health parameters for better diagnosis. Unfortunately, at present, most diagnosis in India is done based on the health statistics developed in other countries having different geographical parameters. If we can develop a robust data base of our own, we can Indianize the diagnosis process. 

I feel implementation of this type of Digitised Telemedicine centres in all over India is required. This would definitely help us to overcome the current limitations in our diagnostic procedures and hence will improve the overall health condition of the population of our country. It may also reduce the over loaded rush of the patient to doctors as the patient doctor ratio is abnormally high in India.