Meet A Class 10 Student Who Has Built A Device To Predict 'Silent' Heart Attacks

As the adage goes, “Necessity is the mother of invention”. Same is true in the case of Akash from Hosur, Tamil Nadu who studies in class 10. He has developed a device that predicts silent heart attacks which pose a very major health risk to people. A silent heart attack is called silent ischemia where there is an insufficient blood supply to the heart muscle, which causes damage in the long run.

Symptoms are chest pain, shortness of breath. Most people take it for nausea, muscle, indigestion, a bad case of flu or muscle pain. The only way to detect it is through echocardiogram or electrocardiography ( a record of the display of person’s heartbeat).

Therefore, it is exciting to know that Akash has devised a way to detect these attacks.

Akash, who is currently at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi, spoke exclusively to The Logical Indian and shared his experience and motive behind developing a device to predict silent heart attacks.

Tell us about your journey.

It was in 2015 when my grandfather collapsed due to a silent heart attack. He was healthy otherwise but because he was diabetic and had high blood pressure, he had ischemia. This prompted me to figure out ways to help predict silent heart attacks.

Since class VIII, I used to read journals. I would visit the library at The Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, which is more than an hour away from my hometown. Also, the internet gave me a lot of insights. You see a heart attack is characterised by a chest pain, shortness of breath and pain in the left arm. High blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol levels increases the risk of heart attacks. I used all this knowledge and my motivation to build the device. I was invited to Tokyo University of Science, Japan for presenting my project at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences and got my project endorsed and clinically approved by their experts.

How does this device work?

A small silicon patch is stuck on the back of the ear or wrist which monitors if there has been a heart attack instead of going through tests like echocardiograms. This patch uses an electrical impulse which is positively charged to draw negative charges towards it. These negative charges are the proteins that trigger a silent attack. If the amount of Fatty Acid Building Protein 3 is high, then there is an urgent requirement of medical attention. Vulnerable people are recommended to use this device twice a day – at night and during the day.

How are you planning to launch this in the pharmacy market?

I am here at Delhi as a guest of the Hon’ble President of India, Shri Pranab Mukherjee who has invited me as an innovation scholar to stay at the Rashtrapati Bhavan for two weeks and to give me research facilities in India’s premier institutions: IIT Madras, AIIMS to develop my project/invention on a large scale.

I am also partnering with Department of Biotechnology, Government of India to provide it for the people at a low cost for Rs. 900/-. In Mid-2018 we will be starting its sale in the market. I will also be patenting it soon.

What are your plans for the future?

I want to pursue cardiology from All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) and be a clinical researcher so that I can develop many other devices which can help people in the long run.

What are your views about the health care facilities in our country?

It is great. There are extensive devices incorporated in hospitals like AIIMS, though the rural areas don’t have affordable health care. I wish to bridge this gap.

The Logical Indian congratulates Akash on his invention and wishes him the best for the future.