Chandigarh, March 31 -- By April-end, finding various departments and services at Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) is going to become easier, thanks to a navigation app developed by the otorhinolaryngology (ENT) department. Christened "PGI Margdarshan", the app is the brainchild of Dr Anurag Snehi Ramawat, developed in coordination with her team, including Prakamya Gupta, Jitender Gairolla, Naveen Pandey, Dheeraj Khurana and Gaurav Rattan, from the ENT department. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) provided Rs.20-lakh funding for the project. Available on both Apple iOS and Google Play Store, the app will help patients and attendants find exact locations in the tertiary care hospital, spread over 277 acres of land. The premier medical institute caters to over 10,000 patients daily at the various OPD buildings and emergency wing. Finding various services in the hospital is challenging and troublesome for many patients, as they are required to walk from one place to another throughout the day in a time-constrained manner - from giving samples, visiting OPD, collecting reports, getting medicines to visiting department, paying bills, etc. Dr Ramawat said given the size of the campus, navigation delays increased stress and reduced efficiency in accessing healthcare facilities. Keeping these challenges in mind, the department had developed a mobile-based navigation system. The system integrates digital mapping and augmented reality to guide users within the campus. Dr Ramawat added that the app, developed over a period of one year, provided step-by-step directions, voice guidanceand real-time navigation assistance. The app calculates the estimated arrival time based on speed adjustment, and includes a multilingual interface and AI chatbot support. The team has been trying to make the app accessible in offline mode as well, she said. Through the app, a user can click a picture of where they are standing and add a drop location. The app then shows directions accordingly. The app provides service-wise detailed information from emergency services to sample collection counters, OPDs, clinics, wards and administrative office locations. Detailed locations, including emergency OT, emergency hall A, B, C, the gynaecology and obstetrics ward and more, make the app more accessible compared to generic mapping and navigation apps...