In Technisch Weekblad of February 18, 2012 an article was published on Frugal Innovation (in Dutch). In frugal innovation the aim is to design prodcuts such that they can be used in less develope countries by taking 80 to 90 percent of the price.
One example they discuss is the development in India by Neurosynaptic, a company that develops medical technology. They have developed a kit that can measure heart rate, blood pressure, temperature, an oxygen. Furthermore, camera, computer and networkconnection is included for below €400. One consult this way only costs about 70 eurocents! Using this they can help patients in rural areas by deploying and using the kit locally and have a medical docter at the other end of the line in the city that can read out all the values and have contact with the patient via video conferencing.
The system works at 32 KB/s datlines and can handle the irregular power supply in India.
Surprisingly, this development is now also brought to the developed countries to be used for home monitoring of patients.
This blog provides information on conferences and novelties in the area of Medical Imaging Informatics (MII). MII has a broad scope ranging from the Radiology Information System and Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) to Advanced Visualization and Computer Aided Diagnosis (CAD). To find new opportunities in healthcare we need to look at informatics solutions in other areas to apply them into the medical field to achieve higher level healthcare at lower costs.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Frugal innovation in healthcare
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