Light as cure

A wearable device that challenges conventional approaches to pain management

- Nirmal Jovial

Back when he was a doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) student, Surya Maguluri spent long hours poring over case sheets and counselling patients. Years later, that deep clinical exposure would spark an idea about using light as medicine.

As so was born Curapod, a wearable light-therapy device developed by Litemed, the startup Maguluri co-founded with Sri Velliyur. Built on photo-biomodulation (a form of light therapy), the device, launched in 2023, challenges conventional approaches to pain management.

"When I started in 2008, the course (PharmD) had just been introduced in India," he says. "There were no clear career pathways." That uncertainty pushed him to look beyond textbooks—he would attend conferences, network with industry experts and try to understand where health care innovation was headed.

A recurring piece of advice stayed with him: find a problem and solve it.