The Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M) has developed a portable hospital, Modulus Housing, a startup that can be installed anywhere and at any place within two hours by four people.

On Thursday, IIT-M issued a statement stating that the portable hospital called MediCAB is a decentralized approach for detecting, screening, identifying, isolating and treating COVID-19 patients in the local communities by using these portable microstructures.

Currently, MediCAB has been deployed in the Wayanad district in Kerala to treat coronavirus patients, according to IIT-M. The startup is developing micro hospitals, which can be installed rapidly across the country. The MediCAB is foldable and comprises of four zones: a doctors room, a medical room/ward, an isolation room and a twin-bed ICU, which is maintained at negative pressure.

The startup was collaborated with Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST). They provided inputs on the certifications and customizations that were required for the project. The Modulus Housing Company was established by two IIT alumni in 2018 and was supported by the IIT-M Incubation Cell. They had a vision to revolutionize housing by modular prefab structures and hence have re-purposed their designs to assist the battle against COVID-19.

Shreeram Ravichandran, Chief Executive Officer said that the result of this pilot project in Kerala can help in showing the applicability of the technology and advantages of micro hospitals, with MediCAB, which is an instant infrastructure solution. MediCAB can be easily assembled in eight hours by four people. When folded, the collapsible cabins are reduced to five-fold, making a cost-effective solution for transportation. Health infrastructure is important in fighting any pandemic. With COVID-19 pandemic, it is very essential to have smart health infrastructure for screening, containing and treating infected people. There is plenty of existing infrastructure in urban areas that can be converted to hospitals but rural areas don’t have a lot of infrastructure. Hence, it is difficult to construct buildings from scratch as the necessity is immediate. Rural population density is reasonably low, so more micro hospitals can help significantly in managing COVID-19 cases.

Modulus is also working on a dual design where these can be launched as COVID-19 isolation wards. Post COVID-19, these portable hospitals can be transformed into micro-hospitals/clinics in rural India where the medical infrastructure needs to be improved. Modulus Housing has set up its manufacturing unit at Chengalpet that is located about 35 kms from Chennai.