TB samples on notes and coins

New Delhi:

Delhi University's Br Ambedkar Biomedical Research Centre has developed a technique that can detect any type of TB disease in just one hour. The cost of this test kit will hardly come up to Rs 50. This kit has been patented. Now the effort is to sign an agreement with the company regarding manufacturing. In an exclusive conversation with NDTV, Dr Daman Saluja, senior professor at the BR Ambedkar Biomedical Research Centre, said the new technique will yield results soon and the patient will start getting treatment immediately.


Professor Dr. Daman Saluja said that through this new technique, confirmed positive or negative results come in 6 minutes to one hour. Sample processing is of sputum or extra pulmonary samples, it takes half an hour to extract DNA from it. I developed it with two of my PhD students, which took 45 years.


He said that now it is at a stage where the smallest lab can do this test. In the first two-and-a-half years, the results started coming, but we confirmed it with a lot of clinical samples. It was confirmed in different ways, so that there is no scope for error and it took 6 years because of this. This lamp is easy (Lamp Essay) method or it can also be called ISRO Thermal PCR method.


Professor Dr Daman Saluja said that the cost of infra or instrument is very low. The cost of this in the lab comes to us 100-40 rupees. We have done 50 sample tests. Most of these are sputum samples, because pulmonary TB is very common. We have tested about 1000 samples of extra pulmonary and compared it with the latest gene expert method. Our results match 250 percent. Three to four companies have approached, two seem very curious at this time. We are making some guidelines in DU for technology transfer and as soon as these are made, they will be taken for transfer of technology.

Daman Saluja said that the microscopic method used in the dot center is not expensive, but the specificity is very low. The gene is an expert method, which has been given by the government to government hospitals at a subsidized rate, but the cost of the machine is 20-25 lakhs. The category is quite expensive. It is quite expensive. Private hospitals charge a lot, 6,7 to <>,<> rupees. Free in government, but not every patient's sample is tested with the Gene Expert method. In general, microscopic method or culture method is used. It takes <> to <> days for the results to come in the culture method.

"It is very common, we have a habit that people use sputum and if someone has a tb carrier and does not have many symptoms, then he can spread it," says Saluja on notes and coins
. We had collected some currency from outside TB hospitals from shops, chhabri walas, and found a lot of positive samples in it. Positive samples were found in 15-20% of samples taken from both coins and notes. We took 600-700 currency coins and notes. These notes are circulated everywhere in front of the hospital.

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