BETiC

BETIC has its origins in a study conducted by Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, which concluded with a brainstorming meeting at Sahyadri Guest House, Mumbai in Dec 2009. This was attended by about 25 representatives of government, academia and medical community, who unanimously recommended setting up a center for indigenous development of affordable medical devices.

The study was funded by Rajiv Gandhi Science & Technology Commission, government of Maharashtra. Its chairperson Dr. Anil Kakodkar invited IIT Bombay to develop a proposal for incubating a biomedical engineering and technology center based on hub-and-spoke model.[3] This was approved in April 2014 as a five-year project, with a mandate to develop 12 different medical devices and train 50 innovators. BETIC started functioning from OrthoCAD lab in IIT Bombay in early 2015, followed by two satellite centers established at Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur and College of Engineering, Pune.

In the next three years (2016-2018), another four engineering institutes and four medical institutes set up self-funded BETIC cells in collaboration with the first three centers. The Medical Education and Drug Department of Maharashtra approached IIT Bombay to set up three more BETIC cells in government hospitals; this agreement was exchanged in the presence of Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadanavis in February 2019 at Sahyadri guest house, the same place where the first meeting took place ten years earlier.[4] Andhra Pradesh Med Tech Zone, Visakhapatnam and Gujarat Technological University, Ahmedabad also signed agreements with IIT Bombay for collaboration with BETIC.

At the 5th annual review, symposium and expo of BETIC held at IIT Bombay on 12–13 April 2019,[5] over 100 stakeholders representing the government, academia, medical community, startups, industry and investors discussed how to sustain, replicate and scale up the healthcare innovation eco-system.

BETIC network comprises one main center, two satellite centers, four cells in engineering institutes and seven cells in medical institutes. The centers and their respective founders are listed here.

BETIC uses a collaborative innovation model comprising four stages: defining an unmet clinical need where doctors play a critical role, developing a novel solution by researchers, delivering a well-tested product by entrepreneurs, and deploying it in clinical practice supported by investors.[7] The goal is to take new ideas through invention and innovation to impact. This process is referred to as 'bedside to bench to business to bedside', enabling affordable, effective, reliable and suitable products for healthcare in India and other developing countries using a frugal innovation process.[8]

The Centre organizes Medical Device Hackathon (MEDHA) during weekends in July, and week-long Medical Device Innovation Camp (MEDIC) in September.[9] Participants include final year students, entrepreneurs, working professionals, teachers and incubation managers. Inter-disciplinary teams of four people are formed, one each from medical, design, electronics and mechanical backgrounds. They select problems from a curated list prepared in consultation with hospitals, evolve novel solution concepts, fabricate proof-of-concepts, and present them to a jury panel. Eight MEDHA and five MEDIC organized during 2015-2019 had more than 700 participants in total. Several winners joined BETIC full-time for developing and commercializing the products; most of them incubated startup companies.

The innovation process of BETIC received ISO 13485 certification of quality management system for medical devices, in 2018.

Medical devices developed by BETIC researchers span different medical specialties and risk classes, including medical diagnosis devices, surgical instruments, implants and prostheses. Sixteen products were licensed to startup companies incubated by the innovators, and six were developed for industry partners.

Biotechnology Ignition Grant (BIG) instituted by Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council, under the Ministry of Science and Technology, Delhi, was won 16 times by BETIC innovators, to kickstart their startup ventures.[10] Other awards include Gandhian Young Technological Award (twice), DST India Innovation Growth Programme Medal (thrice), Google Impact Challenge for Disabilities Award, Dr. Albert Schweitzer International Health Award, Dr. B.C. Roy International Award, Emerging Startup of the Year, American Bazaar StartUp Competition, Young Entrepreneur Award, Indo-Swiss AIT, SICOT Research Award, SKB Seva Samaj Award, Maharashtra Startup Week, Maharashtra AI Innovation Challenge Award, NCPEDP-Mphasis Universal Design Award, IET IOT Challenge Award - Healthcare track, and Infosys Aarohan.

1. Biomedical Engineering and Technology incubation Centre, IIT Bombay, Mumbai
2. Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council, New Delhi
3. Ravi, B., The Essence of Medical Device Innovation, The Write Place, Crossword, Mumbai, 2018
4. "Coronavirus Outbreak: Digital Stethoscopes To Doctors' Rescue," Sunday Mid-Day, 5 April 2020
5. "BETiC- IIT B innovator Aneesh Karma wins Aarohan social innovations awards for 2019," Express Healthcare, 2 March 2020
6. "Low-cost portable diabetic foot screener makes debut at IIT-Bombay innovation camp," Indian Express, 1 Nov 2019
7. "15 novel medical devices conceived within 100 hours at camp in IIT Bombay," India Today, 7 Oct 2019
8. "15 innovations at centre of BETiC IIT Bombay med-tech camp," Economic Times Health World, 1 Oct 2019
9. "IIT-B’s BETiC making a difference in healthcare industry" Medical Equipment & Automation, 1 Aug 2019
10. "IIT Bombay professor pens medical device innovation book", NDTV, 24 Oct 2018
11. "BETiC IIT-B launches Medical Device Hackathon - MEDHA 2019", India Today, 25 June 2019
12. "Hybrid plaster splint, biopsy gun among 20 new products," Hindustan Times, 19 Apr 2019
13. "3 best medical devices innovations at IIT-B get Rs 50 lakh grant" Free Press Journal, 16 April 2019
14. "Portable surgery tent of 20 medical innovations at IIT-Bombay" Times of India, Mumbai, 14 April 2019
15. "How IIT Bombay’s healthcare innovation centre BETiC is solving India’s massive doctor shortage," India Today Online, 28 March 2019
16. "Haffkine Institute, IIT to Start Biomedical Incubation Centre," The Hindu, 15 Feb 2019
17. "We need more screening devices for specific diseases," Express Healthcare, 7 Feb 2019
18. "New low-cost device to diagnose glaucoma in time, prevent blindness," The Hindustan Times, 11 Jan 2019
19. "Poonam Mahajan invites IIT-B BETiC to conduct low cost medical device camps in her adopted villages," Mid-Day, 9 Dec 2018
20. "Doctors, engineers innovate for low-cost healthcare at MEDIC," Business Standard, 28 Sep 2018
21. "How IIT-Bombay’s MEDIC initiative is making a difference: new technology for smarter medical aids," Mumbai Mirror, 29 Aug 2018
22. "More Than Just A Heart Beat" Outlook Business, 22 June 2018, pp. 22–25
23. "The Frugal Innovators at IIT Bombay," Forbes India, 11 May 2018, pp. 42–44
24. "IIT-B researchers develop steth that can filter noises," Free Press Journal, 3 May 2018
25. "CoEP develops instant splint for injured limbs", Times of India, Pune, 10 Feb 2017
26. "Jaipur foot gets a leg-up, 3D-printed version ready", Times City, Times of India, Mumbai, Monday 7 Nov 2016
27. "Meet produces prototypes for 20 new medical devices", Times of India, Nagpur, Saturday, 24 Sep 2016
28. "Google.org announces grant funding of Rs 54 million for three Indian non-profits" Economic Times, 4 March 2016
29. "High-quality low-cost indigenous medical devices created at IIT-B lab," Hindustan Times, 24 April 2015
30. "IIT-B scholar develops software to convert 2D X-ray into 3D," Times of India, 26 Feb 2015.