{Wonder Product: Airlens Minus Corona} A Coronavirus Solution for Every Human Being

This science startup is looking for a powerful partner to launch their wonder product that uses water and electricity to disinfect an area of the Coronavirus.

The pandemic has brought on uncertainties and threats like never before. A vaccine is definitely the most promising ray of hope, but there is still the dilemma dangling around it regarding its timeline as well as its equal availability for rich and poor.

This pandemic has shown the reality in our society. We realized that the people who don’t have the means are going to fall through the cracks and suffer the most

What if the virus mutates in newer strain and renders the vaccine ineffective? What if only the rich have access to the vaccine?

To deal with these problems, Debayan Saha and Dr. Shashi Ranjan, Co-founders of IIT-incubated startup PerSapien, created a device called Airlens Minus Corona that disinfects any location using water and electricity.

This novel technology can be installed in offices, restaurants, classrooms, malls, grocery stores, metros, public places, and most importantly, even homes, and silently kill or destroy Coronavirus, if any, in the environment, be it on the surface or air.

Saha, Co-founder and Director of PerSapien spoke to The Tech Panda about the vision of the science startup.

We thought we have to make a technology, which will be easy and seamless, something that uses a rudimentary element available everywhere and can be intrinsically used into lifestyle

When the pandemic started, the PerSapien team realized the stark digital divide between the rich and the poor. While affluent students continued school via smart devices, the less fortunate remained uncertain. Similarly, discrepancies were apparent between government hospitals and private ones like Fortis and Apollo.

“This pandemic has shown the reality in our society. We realized that the people who don’t have the means are going to fall through the cracks and suffer the most,” he says.

This is why they decided to make a technology that served all equally and was cheap.

“We thought we have to make a technology, which will be easy and seamless, something that uses a rudimentary element available everywhere and can be intrinsically used into lifestyle. We also ensured that it will be really cheap,” he explains.

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To fulfil this aim, the team is looking to partner with philanthropic foundations and big players, who can take the technology and deploy it at scale.

“We are willing to give the technology openly, so that somebody with the muscle power deploys it at a large scale, so that more and more people can be benefited through it. That is the need of the hour. That’s how we will be able to win this war against the pandemic,” he says.

For the same, they are in talks with several companies in places like Japan, the UK, the US, and Scandinavia.

How it Works

The scientists at team PerSapien exploited the physical properties of water like polar covalency to turn it into a safe and effective antiviral. The device runs on the normal electric power supply at homes or anywhere.

One only has to pour normal water into the device and then the technology converts this water into a safe and effective antiviral which then disperse as micro-droplets into the environment to kill the viruses on surfaces or air in that space.

Though awaiting to be commercialized, Saha informs that the product will have three versions. One would be suitable for a small room. The intermediate version would be suitable for a class or a university lecture hall, or a mall floor. And the third version will be suitable for large complexes, like an entire stadium, a station, or a big corporate complex.

Effective but Safe for Humans

From the beginning, the team knew they must focus on two factors, the effectiveness of the product and its safety of use for humans. For the former, the water-based disinfection technology is tested at ICMR to prove its efficacy.

The final satisfaction of the Co-founders and the team would be to ensure that before we die, people’s lives have been saved through whatever we have done on this Earth

The technology is environment-friendly and totally sustainable in nature proving effective in preventing the spread of novel Coronaviruses to an enclosed space, as well as having no effect on a COVID-19-infected individual.

The technique is also chemical and radiation-free science and has been found to be safe for humans and animals for biocompatibility according to US FDA Guidelines, ISO 10993.

A Vision to Serve Every Human

The meaning of PerSapien is every human being. PerSapien strongly believes that good health is the birthright of each (Per) human being (Sapien).

“Our vision is to be an organization that uses scientific knowledge to impact the healthcare of each and every human being. We want to target high impact problem areas to benefit health conditions of billions of people,” says Saha.

Read more: IIT Based Startups Innovate to Bring Unique COVID-19 Solutions

The startup’s team comprises of scientists, technologists, and evangelists from US, Singapore, and India with backgrounds from Stanford University, National University of Singapore, Indian Institute of Technology, AIIMS, etc.

Our vision is to be an organization that uses scientific knowledge to impact the healthcare of each and every human being. We want to target high impact problem areas to benefit health conditions of billions of people

“My personal intention is, the day I grow old, looking back, I want to be happy that my life has been positively contributing to other people’s lives. And that has been the motto of PerSapien. The final satisfaction of the Co-founders and the team would be to ensure that before we die, people’s lives have been saved through whatever we have done on this Earth. Money is not our primary focus, that is not the reason I came back to India,” says the 30-year-old.

PerSapien has been disruptively impacting the public and environmental health since 2015 and has been recognised by Startup India and Google Launchpad. Their other achievements include the Best Innovator Award at Startup India 2018, Best Air Innovation award at Good Air Summit, 2019, and Runners-up at Global Health Innovation Challenge, Bay Area, Berkeley, USA.