Product/Service Development

A reliable, low-cost screening tool to identify high-risk cephalopelvic disproportion (CPD) patients is of paramount importance especially in resource-limited areas where a timely referral to a medical facility for assisted delivery or cesarean section would make the difference between saving the life of mother and child and potential loss of both patients. To address this pressing need we propose to develop and test a simple, ultra-low cost portable technology using off-the-shelf Microsoft Kinect sensor to quantify an obstructive score to identify women at high risk for CPD.

The Pratt Pouch, a foilized, polyethylene pouch (similar to a ketchup pouch) designed and proven to safely store NVP doses, offers an innovative way to expand NVP coverage. The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and its partners propose to introduce and scale up the Pratt Pouch in antenatal care, delivery, and postnatal care services in Uganda. Integrating this technology into existing services will simplify dosing and ensure all HIV-positive women have access to infant NVP.

In this proposal, we describe an assistive medical device that dramatically reduces the training required to administer subcutaneous contraceptive implants (a long-term form of contraception). The device ensures accurate insertion of the contraceptive implant and minimizes the risk of incorrect placement (a major concern during implant removal). Through use of this device, community healthcare workers (prevalent in rural areas of LMICs) would be enabled to administer a crucial form of long-term contraception and increase access to an underserved population.

We have developed a sustainable barcode-based incentive system that encourages "loyal health visits". Pilot proof was undertaken for child and mother vaccinations with strong evidence that our Barcode Mother and Child Wellness Card innovation could very quickly elicit a positive behavioral response for immunization adherence in low resource smallholder settings.

The project will scale-up distribution of the Lucky Iron Fish: an innovative, affordable, and clinically-proven solution to iron deficiency. The fish have a compliance rate of 90% and reduce the prevalence of iron deficiency by ~50%. We will integrate business, health care and university-based expertise to create a different service delivery and carry out research into the impact of the fish on iron status in women with HIV. We will promote an integrated approach that will change service delivery to some of the poorest people in urban areas including HIV positive women.

Salt is universally consumed at a constant, predictable level independently of social status. Our approach is to develop innovative technology for incorporating these micronutrients into salt at levels that can have a significant beneficial health effect. Our objective is to develop a stable premix in the laboratory, test its long-term stability in salt, and scale up the process for premix production in pilot scale tests in India.

Diagnostics For All will develop a sensitive, low-cost, rapid, paper-based microfluidic diagnostic test to screen pregnant women for anemia, HIV, HBV, and syphilis, from one drop of blood. This antenatal care (ANC) test panel will ensure that women who attend ANC at least once are tested for the most critical diseases and provided results on the spot. This ANC panel could improve maternal and child health outcomes for up to 31 million pregnant women in the developing world and their children.

Lack of fast, affordable delivery of blood profoundly restricts the number of lifesaving transfusions performed in the Dodoma region. We will use an autonomous Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) called Stork to transport screened and typed blood from a blood bank in Dodoma to peripheral health facilities, on-demand. In many cases, ground transport of blood would either be impossible or too costly using traditional means. Stork can already deliver over 1kg over 75km in less than 45 minutes at a cost of $10, outperforming all known alternatives.

Regular temperature monitoring is an effective means of detection and prevention of hypothermia but in our extensive field research, we observed that newborn temperature monitoring is rarely practiced in under-resourced clinics and uneducated homes. After vetting the need with over 75 pediatricians and filtering through several proposed solutions, we are developing Bempu, a novel, simple low-cost newborn temperature monitoring wristband. The band intuitively alerts a mother in case of hypothermia, enabling her to take early action.

Effective resuscitation could reduce intrapartum related neonatal deaths by 30%, and deaths from prematurity by 10%, creating the potential to save 347,200 babies annually. However, one in five trained healthcare professionals (HCPs) fail to perform the resuscitation technique correctly, and those that do, often experience a rapid decline in proficiency. Our Augmented Infant Resuscitator's advanced training capabilities, instant feedback mechanism, and objective self-audit and retraining abilities will maximize and sustain gains from effective resuscitation.