 This faction over quality of locally manufactured medical equipments make them rely on imported instruments which are highly expensive and disposable in nature. An innovator named Dishan identified this huge gap in the market wherein manufacturing of surgical instruments was fragmented, manual and disorganized and therefore found a solution for the same. He started developing a line of high quality affordable laparoscopic instruments which had multiple benefits to offer in terms of quality, novelty and affordability. Welcome to another edition of Changemakers. Innovation in healthcare equipment is being driven by the need to make it more efficient and effective while providing better patient care. Technology is changing the way healthcare is delivered. New medical tools and techniques are being developed to help doctors and nurses diagnose and treat the patients more quickly and accurately. We have with us today one search entrepreneur who has done some commendable innovative work in the space of medical devices. Let us welcome Dishan Shah. Hi Dishan, welcome to the Changemakers. Hello. Yes Dishan. Please tell us something about you and your enterprise. So I am an electronics and telecommunication engineer from DJ Sangvi College of Engineering Mumbai and I started my medical device company in June 2021. So we are a medical device development company which focuses on moderate to high risk surgical instruments and medical devices in the domains of laparoscopy, urology and now gastroenterology as well. So that's a bit about mine. Yeah, that sounds like a great solution you have. Dishan, what was the motivation that made you work and innovate in the healthcare industry? So my father is business owner of production house and he was approached by some surgeons who were complaining he there is a lot of reliance and dependence on imported products in the medical industry. So you are supporting our Make in India movement, right, that's great. How are the instruments that you have developed innovative or different from others? So basically our instrument uses advanced bipolar energy so that technology is generally used for sealing blood vessels. So sealing is a process of basically like removing all the moisture and fluid in the form of vapor by providing high frequency electrical energy to the tissue and this allows the surgeon to basically cut that part because all the blood etc is now fused as a tissue. So he can like ligate that particular vessel or joint without having to worry about blood loss. So this technology is used only for this purpose and the surgeon has to remove the instrument and replace it with another instrument like a scissor or a cutting instrument to basically start cutting. So our instrument basically uses electrical principles and it uses electrical arching for cutting the tissues. So the surgeon does not have to change the instrument again and again. So that says a lot of time and our instrument does not have a separate cutting mechanism. So the instrument is very lightweight and the surgeon can perform multiple surgeries and our instrument also has certain materials and coatings which allow anti sticking properties to be there inside the jaws which are used to cut. So that also allows the surgeon to perform longer surgeries because he does not have to remove the instrument for cleaning and that also affects his momentum. So we have observed that our instruments have reduced surgery times from 2 hours to 20 minutes, 30 minutes. So our instruments are generally used in gynecology surgeries and surgery is related to intestines, uterus so basically abdominal surgery. Yeah that is great like it is very interesting that you are allowing a surgeon not to switch the instruments and the time saving. So it is really interesting. So what are the problems that you are solving or addressing through your innovative instruments? So there are two aspects, certain aspects are limited to this particular instrument. So that mainly as I mentioned it performs additional operations. So it can do sealing and cutting both. Second is that it does not have a separate mechanism for cutting. So generally other instruments have a separate cutting mechanism which has a blade and it is triggered by another button. So that makes the product very bulky and prone to other failures because the more the part the more the points of failures. So in that case like our instrument does not have a separate mechanism it uses electrical arching and other principles to cut using the same geometry and the same instrument. So it is very light so the surgeon can perform a lot of surgeries using our instrument. There have been cases where surgeons are not moved on to another instrument because they were able to perform more surgeries with our instrument and they did not get a lot of fatigue etc. So that is there and since the tissue does not stick that also lowers the risk a lot because there is burrowing etc. So the instrument has to be cleaned again and again. So all these aspects are there and this technology can be incorporated in multiple instruments that are useful aproposcopy and even urology. So now we are trying to expand our product portfolio and on a greater level we are providing import substitutes so that reduces the dependence on imported products and also it makes it more affordable for TA2, TA3 hospitals to adopt good quality solutions and provide good quality healthcare to rural areas and people who cannot afford expensive surgery and secondly we are also focusing on developing products which are affordable as well as good quality. So right now people are not focusing towards product development or physical products because that requires a lot of CAPEX and research so people like are focused a lot of industry shifting towards IT solutions and software solutions because of which even core engineers are leaving their core field and joining IT like getting IT skills and joining IT companies because that's where they are getting a good pay but unfortunately this is affecting the industries which are manufacturing or production or product development related and this is undeniably becoming a reason why India is falling a bit behind as far as new product development or completely new research is concerned. So people keep on saying that like end-end products are generally copies or similar product like better improved versions of products or businesses which are already tested and tried in foreign countries. So if we want to change that then we have to come up with companies solutions and ideas which have certain novelty and research aspects incorporated in them. Yes Bhishnan you rightly said working in IT sector is much easier than working in healthcare sectors because whatever the equipments whatever the instruments you produce it has to meet some quality standards right. So how do you ensure that your products meet quality standards? So when we started our venture the market was not that regulated and we were able to test our products quite easily with the support of a few surgeons and hospitals and doctors which wanted to support us or had approached us for this problem. So we were able to basically pilot test our product very easily within a couple of years and we were for a couple of years we were also trying to understand the market and price points that govern the market. So since we are not from the medical background per se we were from a manufacturing background so we did not have a lot of experience as to how the market works because for us lower like small margins are also very lucrative and in medical devices the margins are predominantly like inherently very large. So for us to understand key it is not about making money or keeping large margins it is about penetrating the market and making profit but not at the expense of not providing good quality healthcare to people. So we basically reduced our pricing by 50 to 60 percent and we understood the particular price target which we felt was catering to almost everyone in India and we then released the product with that fully with that price point fully in the market across India and it was very well received and we were able to serve approximately 1000 to 1200 surgeons across multiple hospitals across India in 20 plus states where we have presents. Yeah great great good to hear about it. Please share your experience in participation in Smart India Hackathon and how the participation in Smart India Hackathon helped you achieve what you have known. So I have always been a hardware or a product development guy so I joined Smart India Hackathon for the first time in I think 2018 when the hardware edition was released so at that time we were shortlisted for the second round but unfortunately we did not make it to the finals because at that time I was junior and I did not have a lot of experience and skills per se and the competition itself was also evolving so the guidelines were not a lot clear and the product like it did not have a lot of problem statements at that time we were it's supposed to select our own products like our own problems etc so due to these issues we were not able to make it past the second round but in the third stage like in the next year I was able to like understand and take my learnings from this from this particular year and I applied for software and hardware editions in 2019 out of which I won the software one and in the 2021 in the 2020 version I won the hardware one so in the software one we were supposed to develop a solution to detect driver alertness in drivers so basically that was provided us provided to us with from my entry for which we proposed the hybrid solution which had high hardware and software aspects and the judges received it very well because it was one of the few solutions which incorporated a hardware aspect so we won that and in the 2020 version we were supposed to develop a SOS like system for fishermen or people who venture out in the seas and get lost so we provided a solution which was a variable solution and it was it allowed the like the standard person to basically get his like instead of relying on help they could basically travel to certain areas like basically plan the travel to certain areas and get navigation to reach a particular area without any network or any like Wi-Fi cellular network etc and they were basically able to navigate their travel and plan their travel to certain locations and ports which were already saved in the device and they were also able to transmit as well as messages from 5 to 10 kilometers afar so that was the reason why our solution won in that yeah that's great I think you participated in software edition as well as the hardware edition and you are the winner of both the edition as well congratulations and Dishan how has the participation in SIH helped you in your entrepreneurship journey so SIH was the first product development competition you can say which provided us with the industrial level problem statement so before that we were only making projects which did not like solve a actual problem per se and we did not we used to make things but we did not know what to make of it or what to do with it afterwards so SIH was one of the first competitions that I had joined and it was the first time I could understand that the thing that I was developing had a real life effect or was solving a real problem so that basically marked my journey towards getting actual problem solved and it basically changed my perspective on how I was looking at problems and problem statements for my ventures or my ideas yeah Dishan I think the key takeaway from smart India hackathon participation is you learn the product development life cycle with us can you please tell me the challenges in your journey and how you overcame those the problems that I could see very evidently was that any investor was not willing to invest into businesses which had a viability of like sustainable growth so they focus on businesses which can grow fast and beyond that fast growth they generally do not care what happens of that business in the future so is it viable is it profitable will it make profit or will it sustain so that was one issue that I could feel key even if I could tell them that I had revenue and I had certain products and I had a very good product line and a very good potential to do certain things in the future they felt key this was not viable for them to join because like they did not feel key this was like more revenue more return generating than a software company or some other company the second issue that I could face was that when an investor says key I am technology savvy generally they mean that they are into software and app like portfolios so in that case they do not have a lot of experience or domain knowledge in what we are doing and that requires a lot of explaining and like pitching time and unfortunately investors generally give less than three minutes to pitch so establish a differentiation from existing products as well as to show the potential growth viability everything is very difficult to do within three minutes especially when your business is product focused where you have multiple products in different domains with multiple differentiations and multiple parameters or multiple novelties and you just cannot explain it because the investor is not from that domain so I could very evidently see that these are not the investors or the type of people I should be taking money from and maybe definitely if a investor of this kind also supports us very good if he sees potential in us because we do have potential but we could see that we want like we need to get people who are from this domain who can basically value and appreciate our business much better and who can take the time to understand our solutions and like judge accordingly and basically invest their money because they have faith in our business and this product line instead of just trying to make money out of it so you rightly said you only told about the problems you have faced and you have given the solution as well like you need to approach the right investors with the right pitching deck like as you said the pitching is very much important in raising the fund so within three minutes you will have to show what is the differentiation in your product and you need to attract the investors in the same way and investors everything every time they expect what is a new product line and product line in your business so I hope you understood understood very nicely this thing I hope you will get the investment in future don't worry about it yeah yeah so how do you stand apart from others in the sector Dishan so generally the players in the sector are well established businesses they have been there for like certain decades and like there are two types of competitors majorly that we have one are MNCs that are so well diverse that they fall into any and every category of medical devices so anything that we develop will compete with one of their products and the second is like Indian Ventures or Indian companies that are well established and have been there since a few decades they were basically the foreigners in shaping the medical industry so they want a larger profit value per sales so we are focusing towards accessories and surgical instruments which have more quantity of sales but lower profit values so the actual profit value is lower than a capital item so we feel that we have momentum and agility on our side and we can think ahead far ahead from what like our competitors are able to think our per product sales like total sales are much higher because our products are more affordable and yet we are able to make sufficient margins to make a sustainable business out of it which is profitable as well so we feel that our differentiation is basically our ability to think big solve problems in an innovative way by incorporating solutions that go far ahead from what is like necessary or okay to do. I think you have thoroughly done the market survey before you entered into the market and you have a very much hunger for the research and development please keep it up. I'm sure this hard work and vision has been appreciated and won you accolades can you share some recognition or awards that you might have for this that you might have got for your work. I have participated in many competitions and I have been winner or a finalist in almost five to ten national and international hackathons and my products have also won a lot of accolades. We had developed a solution called work safe it was an open source solution which was developed for the pandemic period and it basically won two to three lakh rupees in different challenges cumulatively including a challenge called India turning the tide which was conducted by MIT University from US so we have approached multiple solutions and like multiple problems with unique solutions and ideas and if certain funding and support for research and development is provided for commercially viable solutions then I am sure that like much more accolades and like solutions will follow not just for me but to all other people who have similar mindsets and are developing like certain solutions which address multiple problems. Yeah it's good to know that you have developed some solution during the pandemic time also great have you received support have you received funding support from other sources as well can you please share a few if you have received. So we have received support from Nidhi Preya scheme then we have received support from the SISFS scheme by the government we will approach Bayrak for another scheme of theirs so potentially we think that someday or the other we will be supported by Bayrak as well if our products meet their criteria and we are also supported like by our own funds so we are a profitable company and currently we are bootstrapping so we reinvest funds inside the company itself unfortunately the pandemic affected my father's business a lot so due to certain financial constraints right now it is challenging to run a business like and these are difficult times as well because the market is getting affected by the wars and the sentiment so we are basically trying to raise funds so that we can survive this period and we can also make sure that we are not just surviving but we are also keeping up with our milestones and pace so with that regards I have approached multiple VCs and investors but as I mentioned due to the reasons I did not get a lot of interest from their sites but I have received a lot of interest from people from hospital background or medical background and currently we are in good talks with them somewhere around the next month I think we should close a certain deal. Okay congratulations and achieving your fundraising goal it is inspiring to see your hard work and dedication I wish you continue success as you move forward with your project Dishan what advice would you give to the newcomers who is considering to start their own venture? I would certainly suggest that they look into domains which no one else is trying to like do something in and identify certain domains which are going to be ever present and affect any or every industry that they are associated with so identify these industries where you can clearly see that if you are able to do revolutionary work in that industry you will basically be defining the course of humanity so I would recommend people to actually think about changing the history instead of just changing your life. That's great Dishan as you said change the history instead of changing yourself is the right advice for the budding entrepreneurs. Dishan how have you adapted to changing trends in the medical instrument manufacturing industry? We were one of the first few people who incorporated automation in like part development and developing surgical instruments so this basically pushed other manufacturers to basically incorporate certain solutions and certain quality checks inside their production and quality system and apart from that we are also basically trying to change the way research and development is looked at so we basically want to come up with solutions which are one of their kind not just in India but in the entire world. Thank you for sharing how you have adapted to changing trends in medical instrument manufacturing industry. It is clear that you have taken a proactive and informed approach to saying ahead of the curve. Dishan what plans do we have for the future of your business? So in the next couple of years we will be releasing a product line of laparoscopic instruments which basically will allow any surgeon who performs laparoscopy to complete any surgery in that domain with our instruments only so that will almost remove the dependence on foreign input. The second thing that we plan to do is we plan to expand to other geographical territories which have certain similarities with the budget cautious market in India. So we are planning to enter African and Latin American markets. We are also having a good business associates in UAE and Europe. So we also at some point of time plan to enter those markets. Apart from that we are also looking forward to business partnerships because we can clearly see that it is getting more and more and more difficult to set up a manufacturing facility or put capex to develop parts or actual products. So people are now approaching us to get the manufacturing done for their products which is an additional source of revenue or turnaround that I can do. Basically it allows me to play a vital role in any supply chain for any medical device part that is sold in India and abroad. The third thing that I plan to do is I plan to invest heavily into research and development of certain projects that I feel hold a lot of promise and have a lot of limitations currently in India. So capsule endoscopy is one of them and I basically plan to keep on like putting money in these certain areas till they get developed which I think will take one or two years at least and by that time we have matured the laparoscopic markets like the markets with our laparoscopy devices and the sales have matured a bit. We will be releasing products which are one of the kind in the entire world by two to three years which will basically set us apart from any other company in India and abroad and we think that if things go right then within three to five years we will be touching a sales figure anywhere between hundred million dollars to one billion dollars based on our product lines and market reception. So focus towards valuation but we want to achieve a good revenue figure. We do not care generally that we do not set milestones based on valuation marks. Yeah that's right I could able to understand like more than the revenue or valuation your hunger is for R&D in innovation that's please keep up the great work that all sounds like an excellent plan for the future of the business. It's great to see that you have a clear vision of how to keep the business moving forward and growing keep up the great work. Adishan what advice would you give to someone considering starting a similar business? So it is getting more and more difficult to enter the medical device industry especially for the moderate to high-risk category and it is also becoming more and more difficult to get export certificates like CE and USFTA because as I mentioned that people are leaving their core jobs so people who have the experience and like domain knowledge to perform audits medical audits and approve companies for their products they are becoming lesser and lesser. So there is a long queue with regards to certification processes and approvals. So it is a bit difficult to enter the market without like properly studying it and understanding if it is viable and if you have a background in medical industry and biomedical engineering or material science then I would recommend that you do develop something in this area even if there are certain entry barriers you can always put up with like industrial partnerships or collaborations and get things moving forward because we are certainly looking forward to collaborations and support and once like people start seeing success and proving themselves money will obviously start flowing in the sector as well. So it is just a matter of time and the government is investing heavily now on medical infrastructure and hospitals and development. So this industry is going to grow at a very rapid pace so that's my advice that even in things that do not leave this industry if you are like if you feel that this is your place to be. That's a great advice starting a business can be an exciting and challenging journey but it is important to have a plan in place and be prepared for anything. It is also wise to seek help from professionals to ensure you are taking the right steps from the start. We wish you good luck thank you so much for joining us and sharing your story. Thank you Disha. Thanks a lot for having me. Innovation in health care equipment has helped patient care and outcomes in many ways. It has enabled doctors to diagnose and treat diseases more accurately and efficiently and has made it easier to monitor patient health. It has helped to improve safety for both patients and practitioners as well as providing better communication between them. We hope to see more innovators like Disha coming forward to make our lives healthier and better. Thanks for watching.