To boost healthcare infrastructure by assisting states to set up COVID-19 extension hospitals, IIT Madras-incubated start-up Modulus Housing has developed a portable hospital unit called ‘MediCAB', to treat COVID-19 patients.

Necessity is the mother of invention and right now the utmost priority  is to upgrade current hospital facilities by increasing the number of beds to accommodate more patients needing critical care and procuring more equipment to improve patient oxygenation. The MediCAB was recently unveiled in Kerala's Wayanad District, where the units are being used to treat COVID-19 patients.

About MediCAB

Within two hours, four people can install the unit anywhere. Through  portable micro structures, MediCAB  has a decentralized method to detect, scan, recognize, isolate, and manage COVID-19 patients in their local communities.

The fold-able hospital unit is divided into four zones: a doctor's room, an isolation room, a medical room/ward, and a twin-bed ICU maintained at negative pressure. These can also be converted into micro-hospitals or clinics in rural India after COVID-19, where medical infrastructure is lacking.

The Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor has reached out to the state Government to gauge their interest in receiving CSR funding to improve patient care across the country by equipping hospitals with more beds, oxygen concentrators, ventilators, and other required equipment.

Modulus Housing was established by  two IIT alumni with the help of the IIT Madras Incubation Cell, with the aim of revolutionizing housing through modular prefab structures. Their prototypes have been repurposed to aid in the war against COVID-19.