Pune firm Vichuals Lifesciences builds software to manage human milk banks

Pune, October 23, 2026: Human milk banks are becoming more important in newborn care in India. Pune-based Vichuals Lifesciences Technology is working to ease problems in the collection, processing, storage and distribution of donor milk. Its Vichuals Human Milk Bank software is meant to digitise milk bank operations, track milk at every stage and help hospitals follow a uniform process for handling donor milk.

In neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) across the country, human milk banks meet the nutritional needs of premature, low-birth-weight and frail babies whose mothers cannot provide enough milk. The World Health Organization (WHO) says vulnerable infants should be given donor human milk when their own mother's milk is not available. It also stresses safe and properly run milk bank systems.

Many tasks in a milk bank are linked. They include recruiting and screening donors, registration, collecting milk, laboratory tests, pasteurisation, storage and giving milk to eligible babies. Keeping accurate records and tracking the milk at each stage is essential, because even a small lapse in paperwork or handling can endanger a patient's safety.

Many of these tasks have so far run on handwritten records and paper. As work grows, continuous monitoring and record-keeping become harder. To bridge the gap between manual work and the precision that biological safety demands, Vichuals Lifesciences has built a digital platform for managing milk banks.

According to the company's product information, the software tracks donor milk from collection through processing, storage, distribution and feeding. Donor selection and registration, processing, storage and allocation are all linked in a single digital workflow.

The cloud-based software also helps with monitoring under Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP). HACCP is a framework for identifying and handling potential hazards, and it reduces the scope for human error. Doctors, nurses, biomedical engineers and those who run milk banks can use it, and it can be adapted to carry a hospital's own branding.

Each container of milk, and the procedures carried out on it, can be tracked separately on the platform. Hospital administrators can review operations through its statistical reports and keep records for monitoring and audits. By reducing dependence on paper, the software aims to bring uniformity, transparency and accountability to milk bank work.

As more hospitals start human milk banks, the need for standard procedures and reliable records is growing. Scattered workflows and incomplete records make it hard to keep continuous tracking through the whole process. Digital systems such as Vichuals aim to resolve these problems by bringing all the key tasks into one system.

The importance of a well-run milk bank is not limited to hospital operations. Research has linked donor human milk to fewer cases of necrotising enterocolitis, a serious intestinal disease that affects frail newborns, when compared with formula feeding in related clinical conditions. The WHO has also described proper feeding of low-birth-weight babies as vital for their immediate survival and later development.

Good management of milk banks is therefore an essential part of newborn healthcare, where safety, quality and timely availability of donor milk matter most. By digitising processes and helping with tracking, Vichuals Lifesciences aims to help hospitals run milk banks better. The platform also provides a digital base for analysing operations and for research.

The platform is the work of Vrushali Deshpande and Saurabh Mane, bringing together an understanding of healthcare and technology-based product design. Deshpande, co-founder of Vichuals Software, is a healthcare entrepreneur and technology expert. She has nearly two decades of experience in healthcare innovation, especially in human milk banking. She has led turnkey milk banking projects across the country and contributed to advancing human milk banking and lactation management in India.

Mane has played a key role since the early days, leading product design and user experience for the Vichuals platform. Drawing on his expertise in human-computer interaction and his experience designing healthcare and AI-based products, he focused on turning the complex work of a milk bank into simple digital workflows for healthcare professionals. His contributions include the platform's interface design, data visualisation and bringing the essential processes into one system. The platform has now been put to use at several large healthcare institutions in India.

Saurabh Mane, co-founder of Vichuals Software, said: "Human milk banking involves complex processes in which accuracy, tracking and safety are essential. Our aim is to make these tasks easier for healthcare professionals and to reduce human error. By bringing simple workflows together, we want to raise the efficiency of milk banks and help with better newborn care and research."

The future of human milk banking in India rests not only on equipment and infrastructure but also on how well people, processes and technology work together. As the sector grows, digital solutions with standard workflows, reliable documentation and end-to-end tracking can play an important role in improving operational efficiency and sustainability.

Through its milk bank software, Vichuals Lifesciences wants to contribute to this change, so that hospitals strengthen milk bank management and keep a closer watch on the whole process of getting donor milk to frail newborns.

Human milk is often called "liquid gold", and it is a precious resource in newborn care. Ensuring that every eligible donation is handled safely, can be tracked and reaches the baby who needs it is at the core of what a well-run human milk bank does.