Consure Medical launches fecal management system ‘Qora’

Consure Medical, a medical technology firm based in Delhi and San Francisco in the US, has launched a novel technology 'Fecal Incontinence Management System - Qora' which addresses the clinical need for new level of care for patients outside the ICU.

Minister of state for science and technology YS Chowdary on Thursday launched the product. 

The indigenously developed `Qora Stool Management Kit (SMK)' safely and comfortably captures and directs stools into an odour-proof collection bag – a development that enhances level of security and protection to bedridden patients by minimizing painful and costly complications often arising from fecal incontinence (FI).

The product was clinically validated at AIIMS, New Delhi and the programme is being implemented at AIIMS and IIT, Delhi in collaboration with Stanford University, USA, Queensland University of Technology, Australia and Tottori University of Japan.

`Qora' is a spin-off from the bio design programme - a med-tech innovation program of DBT - aimed at training the next generation of medical technology innovators in India to develop innovative and affordable medical devices to augment unmet clinical needs of India.

Fecal incontinence (FI) is a medical condition marked by inability to control one's bowel movements, causing stool (feces) to leak unexpectedly from the rectum. It affects nearly 100 million bedridden patients worldwide. Furthermore, about 50 per cent of the psychiatric ward patients have FI due to long-term neurological diseases. Absorbent pads and fecal drainage catheters are the only available solutions for this condition a need for a better solution was felt by the team.

Consure Medical, founded in 2012 by Nishith Chasmawala and Amit Sharma, developed this novel technology 'Fecal Incontinence Management System-Qora' to address the clinical and economical implications of fecal incontinence by expanding indications for use, reducing skill level required to use a device, and introducing a new level of care for patients outside the ICU.

The product was clinically validated at AIIMS, New Delhi. After nearly two years of intense development, the Consure Medical has developed the `QoraTM Stool Management Kit', the world's first FDA 510(k) approved indwelling fecal drainage device for the management of fecal incontinence that can be used across a continuum of care facilities from ICUs to nursing homes.

In select markets like India, caretakers of bedridden patients at home can use the device.

The intellectual property for the company's core QoraTM technology under DBT's ownership has been granted in key markets, including the US, EU, Canada, Singapore, Australia, and Japan. With its elegant and versatile design, the QoraTM technology has the potential to expand globally and benefit more than 100 million fecal incontinent patients each year, a DBT release stated.