Myshkin Ingawale and ToucHB - an innovation that inspires

So where do I start? The story I am sharing here is one of inspiration, and also of perseverance, and a dedication to see an idea through to an actual working product, which is ready to change lives and make some very impactful changes to our society.

Before I talk about the idea and the product, let me talk about the story behind it. This is no simple story, its a story of death and pain and sorrow, but it ends with hope. Lata is a 21 yrs old woman in a small village in Maharashtra who is ready to deliver her baby. The baby is born at home, but for some reason, after child birth she continues to bleed. The midwife fails to control the bleeding and manages to call a doctor from a neighboring village.

However, after a couple of hours both Lata and her little angle are no more. The immediate cause of her is 'post partum hemorrhage', but its underlying cause is actually anemia or lack of iron in Lata's blood. The problem of Anemia is huge in India and most of the developing world.

Ref: http://www.biosense.in/the-anaemia-problem

The above was the sad part of the story, but let me here introduce you ToucHb - the hope for Lata and many such women in towns and villages across India.

ToucHb is the brainchild of Myshkin Ingawale who came across a story very similar to Lata's and decided to do something about it. Thirty two iterations later, he is now ready with the device which is launch ready and ready to change the map of Anemia in the world over the next seven years. Lofty targets, but one can't help but commend and support him and his team in this novel endeavor.




ToucHb is a hand-held needle-free battery operated device that enables screening for anaemia and simplifies monitoring of treatment on a regular basis. Learn more here.

See this video to know more about the device, its working principles as well as Myshkin's personal journey. The simplicity of this young entrepreneur is not just inspiring, but also very humbling. This idea is truly an investment for tomorrow, a tomorrow where many more lives can be saved with some very simple innovations.




I will also tell you why Myshkin and ToucHb are so exciting to me. I am also an Industrial Designer who designs and builds medical devices, especially for pregnant women and neonates and I understand extremely well the need for checking Anemia and taking steps to correct it before its too late. We also ordered and I have also personally tested a couple of these devices in our office and the experience was pretty good. There is still some fine tuning to be done on design, but the idea is absolutely fantastic!

I have spent weeks in the field (primarily villages in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh), and I do hope to see ToucHb during my next visit to some the remotest areas in these states :)


This inspirational video is a part of TEDxGateway. Google and see more of these if you ever find life dull and need any inspiration. 

Franklin Templeton Investments partnered the TEDxGateway Mumbai in December 2012.