New Zealand-based company Pictor Limited has developed an innovative new low cost ToRCH testing kit with aim to help doctors prevent thousands of infant deaths and assist in reducing India’s infant mortality rate. More than 300,000 infants die within the first 24-hour of being born in India every year, according to the latest State of the World’s Mothers Report from Save The Children.
The brain child of Indian born scientists, Dr. Sarita and Anand Kumble of Pictor Limited, say, the revolutionary testing kit provides a simple low cost testing platform for five of the major killers of infants - Toxoplasma, Rubella, Cytomegalovirus and Herpes Simplex Virus 1 and 2. Known as the ToRCH test, the name is an acronym for the five infectious diseases.
“The ToRCH infections are responsible for causing over 20 per cent of deaths in new born infants in India and across South East Asia. These diseases also cause hearing impairment, eye problems, mental retardation, and autism. Traditional tests examining these pathogens have often been too expensive for many poorer families, leaving doctors to make their diagnosis based on symptoms alone,” commented Dr. Kumble of Pictor Limited.
Used on expectant mothers, Pictor Limited’s test utilises cutting-edge immunodiagnostic technology which allows up to eight tests to be accurately performed together on a specially designed microscope slide, using only a single drop of blood. Results are read on the company’s low cost portable reader powered through a computer USB port, and analysed using Pictor’s exclusive data analysis software which provides results within two minutes of test completion.
The test’s easy integration into labs of all sizes, including the small manual operations still dominant in India and South East Asia, in addition to its low entry cost, fast results and minimum technical training requirements, make the technology ideal for developing countries.
Pictor developed the world-class technology in Auckland, New Zealand, with aim of offering low cost diagnostic solutions to developing parts of the world, and has already launched the kits in Thailand and Malaysia with much success.
New Zealand Consul General and Trade Commissioner in Mumbai, Gavin Young, said: “Pictor’s ToRCH test is an exciting development offering real benefits for Indian families, where these diseases have caused loss and distress through long term health damage. The technology is yet another example of the innovative developments in the health sector coming from New Zealand, more of which will be seen in India.”
Pictor launched the ToRCH test in the Indian market this month with distribution partner, Lilac Medicare - a leading Indian in-vitro diagnostics company. Lilac has strong relationships with a broad spectrum of labs across India and overseas.