To design better tech, understand context | Tania Douglas
What good is a sophisticated piece of medical equipment to people in Africa if it can't handle the climate there? Biomedical engineer Tania Douglas shares ...
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This is an equipment graveyard. It's a typical final resting place for medical equipment from hospitals in Africa. Now, why is this? Most of the medical devices used in Africa are imported, and quite often, they're not suitable for local conditions. They may require trained staff that aren't available to operate and maintain and repair them; they may not be able to withstand high temperatures and humidity; and they usually require a constant and reliable supply of electricity. An example of a medical device that may have ended up in an equipment graveyard at some point is an ultrasound monitor to track the heart rate of unborn babies. This is the standard of care in rich countries. In low-resource settings, the standard of care is often a midwife listening to the baby's...
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This is an equipment graveyard. It's a typical final resting place for medical equipment from hospitals in Africa. Now, why is this? Most of the medical devices used in Africa are imported, and quite often, they're not suitable for local conditions. They may require trained staff that aren't available to operate and maintain and repair them; they may not be able to withstand high temperatures and humidity; and they usually require a constant and reliable supply of electricity. An example of a medical device that may have ended up in an equipment graveyard at some point is an ultrasound monitor to track the heart rate of unborn babies. This is the standard of care in rich countries. In low-resource settings, the standard of care is often a midwife listening to the baby's...
