ICMR Backs IIT Kharagpur 'HemoQR', a Smart Device Developed for Rapid Anaemia Screening

The system is designed for preliminary screening and can be used in both clinical settings and community-level health programmes.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has extended its support to a new portable anaemia screening tool developed at IIT Kharagpur, aimed at enabling rapid Haemoglobin testing.

The new device HemoQR has been developed by Smart QR technologies under the mentorship of IIT Kharagpur Director Suman Chakraborty. The system is designed for preliminary screening and can be used in both clinical settings and community-level health programmes.

The device uses a finger-prick blood sample placed on a paper strip, which is scanned using a mobile camera to estimate haemoglobin levels within a short time frame.

This approach is expected to reduce reliance on conventional laboratory infrastructure.

Its minimal infrastructure requirements and portibility makes it potentially applicable in remote areas where access to laboratory-based diagnostics remains limited, the officials stated.

Reportedly, the tool has been tested at VMMC and Safdarjung Hospital and found suitable for initial anaemia screening as part of broader diagnostic workflows.

The device is designed for remote areas where the absence of bulky laboratory equipment makes it potentially usable in resource-limited settings, where access to diagnostic facilities is often limited.

ICMR support is expected to go towards public health initiatives such as the Anaemia Mukt Bharat programme and the National Health Mission, which focus on early detection and management of anaemia.

Furthermore, the officials have indicated that the device may be deployed across hospitals and health camps to facilitate faster identification of anaemia cases and enable timely intervention, as part of broader efforts to strengthen public health screening mechanisms.

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