The diabetic population in India is 2nd highest in World. As per the latest figure released by International Diabetes Federation (IDF), 74 million adults in India have diabetes. The increasing number of people living with diabetes are at risk of developing the condition of retinopathy in the eyes, nephropathy in the kidneys, and neuropathy in the nervous system. In addition, cardiac diseases, stroke, and peripheral artery disease are more common in individuals with diabetes. Neuropathy, or nerve damage, affects almost 50% of people with diabetes throughout the course of their lives. According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), all diabetics should get foot screenings at least once a year because early stages of neuropathy are asymptomatic, thus unless a patient is checked, they will not be aware of the problem.

The neuropathy screening tools that are currently on the market are big, bulky, time-consuming, and not easy to be carried to remote places. At present, there needs to be more accurate and early detection of peripheral nerve damage at the community level. Seeing this, Engineer Nishant Kathpal (M.tech-IIT B) created a low-cost, portable device - Vibrasense that can be used to perform neuropathy screening. Ayati Devices was incorporated on 9th February 2019 in Mumbai,  with a mission to bring technological advances in healthcare and address its challenges. It deals with novel healthcare devices in the area of diabetes. Ayati is a multidisciplinary group of professionals driven to use technology to create innovative medical solutions. The team at Ayati has engineering and medicine backgrounds. The company's mission is to use its solutions to address significant health issues and change the way healthcare is provided. 

(Vibrasense - Portable neuropathy screening device)

Vibrasense is a significantly improved version of the neuropathy screening device, which helps doctors to save time while maintaining accuracy. It also helps neuropathic patients to monitor the progress of their condition, which further helps in their treatment. Vibrasense measures the vibration perception threshold (VPT), which is the lowest vibrational intensity at which a subject perceives vibration stimuli. VPT is impaired at an early stage in different neuropathies and is widely used for screening dysfunction of large nerves in Diabetes mellitus. VPT testing is a clinically validated method for screening, early detection, and longitudinal monitoring of diabetic neuropathy.  VPT values have also been shown to be an effective predictor of the risk of foot ulceration in diabetes. People with impaired vibration sensation are at a higher risk of ulceration.

Later, Ayati was chosen for incubation at the Dayananda Sagar Entrepreneurship Research and Business Incubation (DERBI) Foundation due to the huge impact that the device was creating. Ayati Devices received support from DERBI in the form of mentorship and incubation facility in addition to financial investment. The company also benefited from having access to the DERBI's PRAYAS Shala testing facility. Ayati received two prominent funding from the DERBI Foundation supported by NSTEDB, DST, GoI: the NIDHI Seed Support System Investment (NIDHI SSS) and the Emerge Acceleration program grant of six lakhs for community deployment. DERBI also facilitated many connections to the startups, one of the key connections at Dr.Chandramma Dayananda Sagar Institute of Medical Education and Research, Bangalore rural, resulted in conducting clinical trials and Ethical committee approvals, organizing medical camps and using facilities for the research and development of the products. 

(Ayati Devices team at a health camp location with the team from College of Physiotherapy - Dayanand Sagar University)

Ayati Devices has helped screen more than 1 lakh patients thus far through its numerous clients. The device is also being used at Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's main public hospitals in Mumbai. The Maharashtra government has recently awarded orders to help Ayati deploy the device in 8 districts. 

The business also takes part in several medical camps. The battery-powered nature of the Vibrasense device, which can check 70 to 100 people on a single charge, is one of its major benefits. This is perfect for camps in remote areas where doctors can evaluate numerous diabetic patients for neuropathy even in the absence of a power source.

The company has been recognised and rewarded with multiple start-up awards across the world like the Best startup award in ATTD – Spain, Best startup award in the healthcare category at the Indian IoT Congress- Bangalore, Top 10 startups in AIT- Indo-Swiss Program, Switzerland, Top 10 startups in Go Global India Program invited by UK Government’s International Tech Hub- London, Top 50 startups out of 2500 global entries in LKYG Business Plan Competition- Singapore. It was also invited to Mass Challenge Accelerator- Switzerland to explore the European Market and has been the winner of the STPI ESC Start-Up Initiative - Building the Next Unicorn at the Karnataka Start-up Conclave.

Nishant -CEO & Co-FounderCEO & Co-Founder Ayati Devices Pvt. Ltd

Nishant (CEO & Co-FounderCEO & Co-Founder of Ayati Devices Pvt. Ltd.) says “We want to create large-scale awareness about diabetic neuropathy and detect it at early stages. This will help patients implement preventive diabetic and foot care practices that can halt the progression of the disease and prevent foot injuries and ulcer formation in the legs.  We will not stop our innovations here. The other significant contributor to foot amputation in diabetes is peripheral artery disease. We are now working to bring a diagnostic device that will help doctors predict the risk of diabetic ulcer formation and to evaluate the healing potential of these ulcers. Through our diagnostic and therapeutic products, we want to cover the entire natural history of diabetic foot disease. The main focus of Ayati is on the prevention of diabetic foot ulcers and alleviating the symptoms of those who have the disease.”