IAN Fund backed IIT Delhi incubated cleantech startup, Chakr Innovation has introduced Chakr DeCoV– an Ozone-based device to decontaminate N95 masks. Under the close guidance of Delhi ITT professors and researchers, The team Chakr Innovations, headed by Mr. Tushar Batham, VP Engineering have developed this device with an automated cycle to avoid the unsafe reuse of N95 masks among healthcare workers. Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, launched this device on Friday.
Chakr claims, the system is designed with a biosafety door and a catalytic reduction system to ensure utmost safety against any human exposure to ozone. While common UV light-based decontamination systems are insufficient due to shadow effects and limited penetration, ChakrDeCov’s decontamination mechanism utilises the high penetrability of Ozone gas to clean up the pores of a used N95 mask and ensure complete decontamination of its intricate layers.
As tested by SITRA, this cabinet shaped Chakr DeCoV can decontaminate N95 masks within 90 minutes for safe reuse up to 10 times without any impact on the filtration efficiency. Ozone in this system is a potent oxidising agent that destroys viruses by diffusing through the protein coat, resulting in damage to the viral RNA.
Commenting on the innovation, Mr. Kushagra Srivastava, CEO, Chakr Innovation, said, “Chakr DeCoV is built with an innovative ozone-based decontamination mechanism, which ensures effective decontamination with high reliability and safety, as expected in a hospital environment. We also believe that our product will help to solve the rising concern over biomedical waste, generation while treating novel Coronavirus disease. We are glad to have earned support from organisations such as ICICI, Coal India and Mineral Exploration Corporation Limited for our project, who have funded the development and pilot deployment.”
As per ICMR-NIV & IIT Delhi’s Centre for Biomedical Engineering test reports, This device can inactivate SARS CoV-2 virus and kill 99.9999% of bacterial loads with proper dosage and exposure of the ozone. It has also undergone several rigorous in-house testing to assure safety and reliability.
Chakr Innovation, Prof. V Ramgopal Rao, Director, IIT Delhi, said, “IIT Delhi is committed to addressing the COVID19 problem through its technological prowess. When it comes to serving the hospitals, and our medical professionals, there is a need for providing high-quality PPEs, and at the same time, ensure their possible reuse and safe disposal. This is essential from the biosafety point of view. It is heartening to see Chakr Innovation working in this direction and building this product to mitigate the challenges offered by this pandemic.”
Chakr in a press release note mentioned this system would help reduce biomedical wastage. It has also started running the pilots for these products in Pune, and are ready to scale this well-tested and reliable product currently.
