Coimbatore: Here is some good news for those who regularly check glucose and cholesterol levels. Three urban primary health centres (UPHCs) in the city have been equipped with ‘Internet of Things (IoT) Kits’ that can give test results within minutes.The city corporation had procured the machines made by Medtel, a telemedicine provider, at a cost of Rs 3lakh each for UPHCs situated on Raja Street in Town Hall, Kunniyamuthur and SLM home in RS Puram.“The kits were distributed to the centres about a month ago to check their efficiency and response from the public. We have received good response both from the public and doctors,” said a senior official with the corporation’s health wing.The kits can be used to conduct HbA1c, a test that measures the amount of blood sugar and lipid profile test to know the level of four types of cholesterol. “Thanks to the kits, processing and waiting time have been reduced. Data accuracy has gone up and real-time monitoring has been achieved,” the official said.The kit is attached to an Android phone that has Medtel app. “Upon adding a drop of blood, the result will be known within minutes,” said Dr A Rajeshwari from Raja Street UPHC. “The result is sent as a text message both to the patient and the doctor. As the doctor also gets the message, it also makes diagnosis easy.”“More than 50% of the outpatients visit the centre only to take blood tests. Their number has gone up by 20% after we began using the kit,” the doctor added.Each centre has also received an otoscope device, which is used to look into ears. Patients can also view the images of their eardrums upon connecting the device with an Android phone installed with the necessary software.The corporation plans to distribute the kits to all the 23 UPHCs in the city at a cost of Rs 80.50lakh.

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