The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Unique inventions showcased

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Tuesday, Dec 18, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Unique inventions showcased

Special Correspondent

Innovators, B-school students converge at Metamorphosis-2007

Medical device developed by Kulkarni Prasad short-listed for top honours
The device Auto-distracto helps in correcting congenital defects

PHOTO: P.V.SIVAKUMAR

Gadget coat: Young innovator trying out the active heating and cooling vest at the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad on Monday . -

HYDERABAD: Auto-distractor, a medical device developed by an Indian entrepreneur, Kulkarni Prasad Narayan, was among the seven innovations short-listed for top honours in the final round of ‘Metamorphosis-2007, held at the Indian Business School here on Monday. This device helps in correcting congenital defects like short or deformed limbs , polio disabilities and deformities caused by accidents,

Metamorphosis is a unique platform that brought together innovators and B-school students to come up with concrete plans for making the invention a successful business venture. The ISB organised the event in association with the Department of Science and Technology.

Talking to The Hindu before the top three prizes were announced, Mr. Kulkarni, who hails from Sangli (Maharashtra), said that he had developed the prototype in 2005 after the project was funded by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research in 2001.

Tested

A working model of the product was tested on 25 patients under the supervision of DSIR’s ethical committee. It corrects deformities at the rate of one millimetre a day and requires a month for rectifying an inch. Another interesting innovation at ‘Metamorphosis’ was the prototype of a user-controlled cooling and heating jacket developed by a MIT-educated Indian entrepreneur, Kranthi Kiran Vistakula. He said the US military had shown keen interest in the jacket. He claimed that there was no equivalent product currently in the market anywhere in the world.

The young entrepreneur plans to price it at around $ 500 in the US for civilian market and $ 1,000 for military. Once completed, the jacket would undergo testing at a military centre in the US. He was granted Rs.12.5 lakh by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research under TePP (techno-entrepreneur promotion programme) for developing the prototype. Five other innovations, including a large stove for large-scale cooking using crop waste as fuel and a mini-tractor for small land holdings, were among those which vied for top honours in the competition.

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