IIT Guwahati Develops E-Eye for Toxicant Detection

IIT Guwahati developed “E-Eye”, a low-cost portable optical sensing device for rapid detection of toxicants and cancer-causing heavy metals in water and biological samples. The device was announced on 6 August 2026 and was designed for on-site testing with digital output and wireless data transmission.

E-Eye and Optical Sensing

E-Eye is a Beer-Lambert law-based device that converts chemical colour intensity into digital readings. The Beer-Lambert law is a spectrophotometric principle used to relate light absorption to concentration in a sample.

The device was built at an approximate cost of Rs. 3,500. The per-sample testing cost was stated to be around Rs. 2, which places it in the category of low-cost analytical instruments.

Detected Contaminants and Sample Coverage

Laboratory validation covered more than 2,700 samples. The device detected arsenic, lead, iron, chromium, fluoride, and Escherichia coli in the tested samples.

Arsenic and lead are toxic heavy metals, while chromium and fluoride are monitored in water quality studies. Escherichia coli is a bacterium used as an indicator of faecal contamination in water.

Research Team, Publication and Funding

The project was led by Prof. Tapas K. Mandal and Prof. Harshal B. Nemade of IIT Guwahati. The work involved researchers from KIIT Bhubaneswar and Ramakrishna Mission Residential College, Kolkata.

The device details were published in the IEEE Sensors Journal. The project received funding from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology for support linked to the Government of India’s Jal Jeevan Mission.

Important Facts for Exams

• IIT Guwahati is an institute of national importance under the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961.
• Beer-Lambert law is used in colourimetry and spectrophotometry.
• Escherichia coli is commonly used as a microbiological indicator in water testing.
• Jal Jeevan Mission aims to provide Functional Household Tap Connections in rural India.

ENVIONIX Labs Pvt Ltd was established to commercialise the E-Eye technology. Technology transfer with industry partners is part of the planned deployment model for the device.