Young innovator wins James Dyson Award for AI device transforming rural healthcare

A 25-year-old innovator from India has won the James Dyson Award India 2025 for creating a device that could transform healthcare in rural areas.

Tunir Sahoo’s invention, JivaScope, is a compact, AI-powered tool that screens heart and lung conditions in minutes, without the need for electricity, internet, or a doctor.

The device aims to make early diagnosis possible for millions who live far from medical centers.

The inspiration for JivaScope came from a visit to a small clinic in Bihar, where Sahoo witnessed a father holding his breathless son as the doctor, suspecting pneumonia, struggled without any diagnostic equipment. The moment left a lasting impression.

“It wasn’t an isolated case,” said Sahoo, recalling the experience that sparked his idea.

“Over the following weeks, as I spoke to more than 60 rural doctors, I realized this wasn’t an isolated case; it was a systemic failure. That was the spark that led to JivaScope,” Sahoo added.

The award, part of the global James Dyson competition that supports engineering and design innovations solving real-world problems, gives winners up to £30,000 (around ₹30 lakh) to advance their projects.

Sahoo’s journey from the quiet lanes of Kharagpur to the national innovation stage was shaped by both family values and field experience.

“My father was a banker, and my mother is a high school history teacher. From them, I inherited discipline, curiosity, and persistence,” he said.

A graduate of Dr BC Roy College of Pharmacy in Durgapur and an MBA from IIM Kashipur, Sahoo’s vision for healthcare reform didn’t begin in a lab; it began in rural clinics where doctors often lacked even the most basic diagnostic tools.

“One defining moment was in a small clinic in rural Bihar. I saw a father holding his young son, struggling to breathe,” he recalled. “The doctor suspected pneumonia but had no diagnostic tools to confirm it.”

That moment of helplessness stayed with him and pushed him to design something that could bridge the rural healthcare gap.

JivaScope’s development went through over 20 design iterations before reaching its current form.

“The toughest challenge was balancing ease of use with clinical accuracy,” Sahoo explained. “Early versions either had reliable accuracy but were too complex for non-specialists, or they were simple but inconsistent.”

The breakthrough came when his team integrated infrared-guided placement, making the device intuitive enough for ASHA workers while maintaining precision.

Sahoo said that preparing for the Dyson Award helped refine the design further.

“Preparing for the James Dyson Award really pushed us to keep iterating until the design was both elegant and practical, because that’s exactly the kind of innovation the award celebrates: simple, user-friendly solutions to complex problems,” he added.

Unlike many telemedicine devices, JivaScope functions entirely offline. “In rural India, internet access is patchy and unreliable,” he highlighted.

“I knew from the very beginning that building an internet-dependent tool would immediately exclude the communities we wanted to serve.” The AI runs on-device, allowing frontline workers to screen patients anywhere.

Affordability remains central to JivaScope’s mission. Priced at around ₹3,000 (approximately $36), Sahoo and his team plan to bring it down to ₹2,000 ($24).

“Affordability was non-negotiable,” he said. “If rural doctors or health workers couldn’t afford it, the impact would be zero.”

His approach to keeping costs low was pragmatic. “We used off-the-shelf components rather than custom hardware, ran lightweight AI models that don’t need expensive processors, and simplified the design to the essentials. Every feature we kept had to directly support accuracy or usability; nothing extra,” he explained.

During field trials, the most powerful feedback came not from doctors, but from community health workers.

“One ASHA worker told me, ‘For the first time, I feel I can give my patients an answer instead of just referring them elsewhere.’ That struck me deeply,” Sahoo recalled.

“It reminded me that true innovation isn’t just about accuracy or algorithms; it’s about empowering people to deliver care with dignity and trust,” he added.

Looking ahead, Sahoo aims to integrate JivaScope with the government’s eSanjeevani telemedicine platform, secure regulatory approvals, and scale operations across more than 10 states.

“The biggest challenge will be last-mile adoption,” he said. “Building the device is one thing, but ensuring doctors, ASHA workers, and state health systems integrate it into their workflows requires training, trust-building, and policy alignment.”

Partnerships with state governments, NGOs, and public health missions are now in progress.

“Winning the James Dyson Award has been a turning point. It gives us visibility, credibility, and access to global mentors and networks,” he said. “With that recognition, we’re able to reach decision-makers more easily and collaborate with people who can help us overcome these challenges.”

For Sahoo, JivaScope represents more than just an invention; it’s a promise. In places where families once waited helplessly for diagnosis, it offers answers, hope, and dignity.

“That’s what drives me,” he said. “To ensure no one has to watch their loved one suffer just because they live too far from a city hospital.”