Bal Chander, a Professor of Pathology at Dr. Rajender Prasad Medical College in Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, has been granted a patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office for developing a groundbreaking Blood Analysis System (BAS)—a medical device designed to enable real-time monitoring and treatment of critically ill patients.
Chander said the untimely deaths of his teacher and a school friend inspired him to develop the system, which he completed in just one year without any external funding, sponsorship, or collaboration.
"The Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office has received an application for a patent for a new and useful invention. The title and description of the invention are enclosed. The requirements of law have been complied with, and it has been determined that a patent on the invention shall be granted under the law,"said Coke Morgan Stewart, Acting Director of the USPTO, in the official citation.
According to Chander, the European Patent Office has also ratified the components, processes, and originality of this innovation.
Chander explained that BAS is designed for critically ill patients in intensive care units (ICUs) as well as other patients requiring continuous monitoring.
It functions as a dynamic monitoring and correction system that tracks multiple critical blood parameters and automatically adjusts treatment based on the patient’s specific needs.
"The invention will make it possible to measure the levels of dozens of blood molecules and ions continuously and display the results in real time without the patient losing even a single drop of blood," he said.
Currently, patients’ blood samples are taken repeatedly and sent to laboratories for tests—such as glucose, lactate, urea, creatinine, bilirubin, sodium, and potassium levels—which take over an hour to produce results.
"These test results are like snapshots of continuously changing blood pictures, and to understand the complex and ever-changing blood picture using these snapshots is like trying to understand the complete story of a three-hour-long movie through just a few photographs," Chander said.
He further noted that BAS is also designed to correct the levels of dozens of blood molecules and ions simultaneously in a controlled and selective manner—without using drugs.
Unlike dialysis, the device can selectively remove any of the thousands of molecules circulating in the blood while monitoring these corrections in real time.
Chander, a native of Shimla and an alumnus of Sainik School Sujanpur Tihra, completed his MBBS and MD (Pathology) from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.