Project Title: Digital diagnostics for smarter healthcare in Africa
Project Description: Our aim is to test the potential of open-source hardware as a new business model to establish and scale digital diagnostic solutions in Low- and middle-income countries, using the Open Flexure Microscope as a case study. In this phase of the project, we are building a network researcher and biomedical engineers from different African and western institutions in order to develop low cost and reliable medical devices that can be manufactured and maintained in African... Our aim is to test the potential of open-source hardware as a new business model to establish and scale digital diagnostic solutions in Low- and middle-income countries, using the Open Flexure Microscope as a case study. In this phase of the project, we are building a network researcher and biomedical engineers from different African and western institutions in order to develop low cost and reliable medical devices that can be manufactured and maintained in African health clinics. The links we build between engineers, healthcare scientists, medical professionals, and social scientists will not only help us achieve this aim, but will provide local, pan-African, and intercontinental links that help to build capacity in diagnostic innovation where it is needed most. We will spend the first year of this project planning, identifying barriers to open source innovation, and forming networks of local connections to overcome these barriers. In the following years, we will study the process of taking a locally produced, 3D printed microscope from a working prototype to usable product for malaria diagnostics in three different African countries including Tanzania. We will use the framework of Implementation Science to study the "diffusion of innovation" as the technology is taken through regulatory approval and adopted by healthcare providers. We will engage with a number of other projects, for example, low-cost retinal imaging devices, to compare across different technologies, and to share what we have learned in malaria microscopy with other application areas. Our network is highly interdisciplinary, and this is crucial to its success: while many diagnostic devices are developed by physical scientists and engineers, this must be led by the needs of clinicians, and informed by the infrastructure, regulations, and political environment of the country where it is to be used. This understanding of context needs social and policy scientists, as well as engagement with regulators and policymakers. While there are important points for engineers to consider relating to the context (such as the availability of reliable power or data connections), many of the biggest barriers to innovation are cultural, political, or regulatory. We will work to develop a sustainable business model that uses open source technology to empower local entrepreneurs while complying with relevant regulations and standards for bringing better access to diagnostics to some of the most underserved regions of the world including Tanzania.
Principal Investigator : Catherine Mkindi
Department Name :
Time frame: (2020-05-01) - (2021-04-30)
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) (Normal)
External Collaborating Partners
University of Bath
University of Cambridge
University of Sussex
Durham University
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science Tech
University of Health and Allied Science
University of Yaounde I
Bahir Dar University
Tech for Trade
Kumasi Hive