Two Students Built $250 Health Scanner for Rural Clinics

When a patient travels hours to reach a rural health clinic, waiting days more for lab results often means the tests never happen at all. Two engineering students in India decided that wasn't good enough.

Lokant Jain and Saniya Jeswani launched Perkant Tech in June 2020 while finishing their final year at university in Indore. They were just getting started when the pandemic hit, making accessible healthcare feel more urgent than ever.

Their device, called Abhay Parimiti, fits in a backpack and costs about $250. It's designed so a health worker can use it without specialized training, delivering an automated health assessment in under 60 seconds.

The system measures vital signs like blood pressure, pulse, oxygen levels and temperature. The company says it analyzes hundreds of body signals to screen for cardiac and respiratory issues, and is working toward instant readings for conditions like pre-diabetes and anemia.

Rural primary health centers often lack the equipment and lab access that urban hospitals take for granted. Patients who need anything beyond basic vital signs typically face long waits or expensive trips to distant facilities.

Why This Inspires

What stands out isn't just the technology. It's two young engineers seeing a problem in their own backyard and refusing to accept it as unchangeable.

They built their prototype during one of the hardest years to launch anything, when the world was locked down and supply chains were broken. Instead of waiting for perfect conditions, they started with what they had.

In April 2025, investors believed in that vision enough to put in 6.6 crore rupees, about $800,000. YourNest Venture Capital led the round, joined by government innovation programs and foundations focused on healthcare access.

The funding is going toward research, technology upgrades, and preparing for commercial rollout. The company has already run pilot programs and is working to align with India's National Digital Health Mission, which aims to create standardized digital health records across the country.

Perkant Tech joined the Qualcomm Women Entrepreneurs India Network in 2023 and showcased their device at Nokia's 6G laboratory opening. They're building manufacturing capacity in Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.

The journey from student project to funded medical device company shows what's possible when young innovators focus on real problems affecting real people. Every clinic that gains diagnostic capability means dozens of patients who can get answers instead of being sent home to wait.

Healthcare gaps in rural areas aren't unique to India, and portable diagnostic tools could change outcomes anywhere doctors and labs are scarce. That's the kind of progress worth celebrating.