Technological advancements are transforming the entire landscape of healthcare delivery, and home-grown technology is being worked on to bring diagnostics closer to the patients, shared Dr Tathagato Rai Dastidar, Founder & CEO, SigTuple with Garima Pant of Elets News Network (ENN). Edited excerpts:

What is your take on the current state of digital health infrastructure in the country?

Currently, digital health infrastructure in India is still in its nascent stage. But steps are being taken in the right direction. Tele-health got a huge boost during the recent pandemic. The National Digital Health Mission is something that can change the landscape in healthcare delivery. The ongoing deployment of 5G can ease the deployment of telehealth facilities across the country, be it for consultations, diagnostic procedures, or even surgery.

How is AI adoption in the diagnostic space helping in improving diagnostic services?

We have recognised that microscopic review is a very critical and essential process in the workflow of any laboratory. It is still the gold standard for diagnosing critical and common disorders like cancer, infections, anaemia, etc. Automated digital microscopy, still at a nascent stage in India, has gradually picked up, making the lives of pathologists more efficient. A pathologist can now review 300 slides a day, as compared to 30 slides with manual microscopic solutions. With Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled automated digital microscopy, the sample review process by a pathologist, which used to take five to ten minutes, has come down to 30 seconds today.

What are the present lacuna in the diagnostic sector, and how do you see technology providing a solution to address these?

The most pressing problem in the diagnostic sector today is the hub-and-spoke model. Centralised laboratories process samples collected from a large geographical catchment area. The diagnostic equipment present in laboratories is also built for this model. They provide high throughput, but at a high cost. Sample transportation over large distances adds not only to the turnaround-time for the test results but can also compromise the quality of the sample itself. What needs to change in the future is to take diagnostics to the periphery – nearer to the patient. This is where technology, especially home-grown technology built to suit the economic needs of the local population, has a role to play. Technology can help build solutions that offer accurate testing at the periphery, at a cost that makes it affordable.

What are the innovations in the diagnostics space that are crafting the future roadmap of the segment?

The sector has seen a lot of innovations. SigTuple has been a major contributor in the Indian market for diagnostic centres and hospitals. Other than the current product by us that has led major strides in automating manual microscopy, SigTuple will create new products along multiple lines:

• Supporting multiple more tests through the AI100 hardware, like histopathology, microbiology, pap smears, etc.
• Bringing in more automation to the hardware to make it appealing to the very large labs segment, which require very high throughput
• Targeting the clinics, PHCs, etc. with a point of care device for blood and urine testing. This will significantly expand the market beyond traditional clinical laboratories and take us to scenarios and places where no critical disease screening is not possible today.

How do you see your organisation’s present positioning and future outlook in the digitally driven diagnostic ecosystem?

The problem that SigTuple currently solves is to automate the manual microscopy process currently done in clinical laboratories. While most processes at laboratories are automated, microscopy remains primarily manual – 99 per cent plus laboratories use manual microscopy only.

The aim is to assist pathologists in their microscopy work, thereby making their lives easier and ultimately improving patient outcomes. SigTuple has remained true to this vision throughout its journey, and today it is en route to putting India on the global map of deep tech start-ups.

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