Bengaluru-based Prayoga Institute of Education Research is developing an AI-powered tool to assess the antimicrobial efficacy of materials used in space applications.
Prayoga was awarded a grant under the ISRO RESPOND program for the project “Antibacterial Efficacy Evaluation Study for Space and Terrestrial Environments”.
Under RESPOND, it is recommended that projects in advanced areas relevant to space programs be undertaken by premier universities and academic institutions.
Microbial colony
“We are developing an automatic colony counter integrated with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to detect microbial colonies on surfaces. The aim of the project is to develop an AI-enabled tool for evaluating the antibacterial efficacy of materials used in space applications,” Ramya Prabhu, principal investigator of the project, told The Hindu.
The two-year project is led by Dr. Ramya with Dr. Venkata Krishna, Dr. Om Prakash and Dr. Sai Harshini serving as co-principal investigators from Prayoga. Dr. Ramya said that the results of this project can be applied in future ISRO missions.
“Microbial contamination on abiotic surfaces is a major problem in healthcare, food, industrial and aerospace environments. In hospitals, high-touch surfaces and medical devices can contain harmful microorganisms. This contributes to healthcare-acquired infections. During food processing and storage, pathogens on surfaces can affect product safety, accelerate spoilage and shorten shelf life,” explained Dr. Venkata Krihn.
Unique challenges
He added that the spacecraft environment presents unique hygiene challenges due to their confined spaces, along with temperature and humidity controls that encourage bacterial growth.
“So we want to develop a home automated device that can detect microbial colonies to get reliable, accurate and consistent results,” said Dr. Om Prakash.
This project is not limited to manned missions. “Microbial presence and contamination can affect and alter the functioning of spacecraft. Our work therefore has applications in both manned and unmanned missions. This means that the tool we are developing may have applications in medicine and the food industry due to the ubiquitous nature of microorganisms,” said Dr. Ramya.
Published – 14 Feb 2026 19:57 IST