Hyderabad: With the world still reeling from the pandemic, Hyderabad is a reflection that necessity is truly the mother of innovation. Back in June, IIT Hyderabad (IITH) developed a low-cost testing kit that could detect the virus within 20 minutes.
On August 25, IIT Hyderabad launched the advanced and affordable respiratory respirator mask price as low as Rs. 13 a day, the ‘US9 TM.’ An IIT press release states, “With a vision to provide high-quality protection, especially in the healthcare industry and its frontline workers, USafe’s US9™ Respirator Mask has 98.03% PM0.3 filtration rate and 99.7% bacterial filtration rate (better than N95 standards).” Present at the launch on the IITH campus, Principal Secretary to the Government of Telangana, Jayesh Ranjan, congratulated the innovators on the launch.
Keeping in sync with the ‘Make in India’ and ‘Atmanir Bharat’ aspirations, the US 9 Respirator Mask has been designed, developed and produced both by IIT-Hyderabad and health-startup, USafe Healthcare. While this produce was incubated by the public research institutes’ Centre for Healthcare Entrepreneurship (CfHE), Professors, Surya Kumar and Renu John also mentored the innovators.
Commenting on the environmental benefits of the new device, USafe’s Co-founder and Head of Strategy said at the launch, “US9™ Respirator Mask creates value for the consumer by offering a fresh N95 standard equivalent mask every day at as low as Rs. 13, making it a path-breaking affordable innovation. Reusability of US9™ Respirator Mask reduces biowaste by 1/100th of the current waste generated per person per day due to disposable masks, upholding the sustainability goals of the country.”
Plus, the mask is reusable, comfortable and can be cleaned easily. Co-founder and Commercial Director Arshad Qureshi praised IITH for nurturing the start-up ecosystem out which emerged their product.
