THE 12th Anjani Mashelkar Inclusive Innovation Award was awarded to Swaasa, a smartphone-based, ultra-low-cost solution for detecting major respiratory disorders via audiometric analysis of simple cough sounds.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death worldwide and India has the highest number of Tuberculosis (TB) cases. In 2021 itself, India had 2 million TB cases and around 0.5 million TB-related deaths. Lack of adequate knowledge of symptoms and high-cost of tests to diagnose COPD are some of the contributing factors to the issue.
Narayana Rao Sripada, Founder and CTO of Salcit Technologies, and team members Venkat Yechuri and Manmohan Jain, developed Swaasa. Swaasa uses AI-driven technology to diagnose respiratory disorders at an operating cost of just one rupee. It uses machine learning models to analyse the cough sounds in combination with other information such as temperature, oxygen saturation, and symptoms to assess the performance of the lungs. One has to cough into a smartphone, completely eliminating the need for expensive equipment. Swaasa has benefitted around 3,00,000 people across India.
