Students build wiki of medical devices designed for low-income countries, MedicalExpress.com

Students build wiki of medical devices designed for low-income countries

April 24, 2012 By Nicole Casal Moore

A human powered nebulizer could provide breathing treatments to asthma patients in parts of the world without reliable electricity. The device, developed at Marquette University, is one of the more than 100 technologies University of Michigan students have cataloged in a new wiki of medical devices for resource-limited settings. Credit: courtesy of Marquette University.

(Medical Xpress) -- In parts of the world without reliable electricity, a pedal-powered nebulizer could provide life-saving asthma treatments. Small wax-filled sleeping bags could keep premature infants warm. A salad spinner centrifuge for blood samples could help clinicians diagnose anemia.

 

University of Michigan researchers have cataloged more than 100 such technologies in a new wiki of medical devices designed for resource-limited settings. The Global Health Medical Device Compendium, an open-source inventory, is hosted by the popular appropriate technology wiki Appropedia. It is expected to serve as an important communication vehicle for end users, non-governmental organizations, researchers and others to help advance such technologies.

Developing nations import roughly 90 percent of their medical technologies from higher-income countries. But systems tested in controlled settings in high tech hospitals often don't work as intended in places where continuous electricity, replacement parts, clean water, and appropriate training aren't always accessible.

In the new database, each device's entry outlines the problem the technology aims to solve and includes links to related peer-reviewed studies. Visitors can search by disease, device status, and the region where the device has been tested or targeted. They can comment on a device's usefulness. And, because the database is a wiki, they can update information and add technologies.

"We've created an active, dynamic compendium of devices specifically designed for resource-limited settings. It will help people see what is possible and what is in the pipeline," said Kathleen Sienko, an assistant professor of mechanical and biomedical engineering who spearheaded the project.

Rachel Strauss (left) and Megan Bland, master's students in biomedical engineering developed an inexpensive, low-tech child car seat for use in developing nations where car seats are not mandated or even commonly used. The car seat one of the more than 100 technologies University of Michigan students have cataloged in a new wiki of medical devices for resource-limited settings. Credit: Marcin Szczepanski

The endeavor began in 2010 in Sienko's Design for Global Health engineering course. When she found that a suitable textbook for the course did not exist, she turned the students into global health researchers. Over the course of the semester, they examined 600 health-related technologies and even traveled to Nicaragua to observe medical care there. During the past two years, other students have whittled down this information and cataloged it. Design science doctoral student Amir Sabet, who took Sienko's class, led the Appropedia project.

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More information: The new database can be found at http://www.apprope … h_Compendium