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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http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-students-wiki-medical-devices-low-income.html
More information: The new database can be found at
http://www.apprope … h_Compendium