CHENNAI: Despite the pandemic and lockdown, the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) faculty, researchers and students filed as many as 184 patents in 2020.This includes nine patents related to Covid-19 for inventions ranging from “systems and methods for detection of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus, a standalone, portable single-use and wireless ventilator system, system for non-invasive calibration-free blood pressure measurement and smart and sustainable protective gear and PPE waste treatment,” a statement from the institution said.
The drive to innovate was encouraged by the transformational research undertaken by the faculty members and researcher scholars, the statement said. Besides medicine and healthcare, several patents were also filed in other cutting-edge areas such as 5G, telecommunications, sensors and instrumentation, among others. There was also a steady increase in international patents. From 22 in 2017, the total number of international patents almost tripled, reaching 65 in 2020. The Centre for Industrial Consultancy and Sponsored Research (ICSR), IIT-M, has undertaken many initiatives in recent years to drive this increase in patents, the statement pointed out.