We’ve just added a new page – Article Index. We’ll be using this page to post links to journal entries, or even online news articles, for both our reference and the benefit of anyone who’d like to read more about research that’s been done in appropriate technology and health systems modeling.
If you know of an interesting and relevant article that’s not on our list, let us know! Post a comment on the page, or on this post, or email Amy at acanham at bu.edu
The 100×100 group is looking for anyone interesting in technology design for developing countries! We’d love to hear from people who…
To jump right in, comment on this post or contact Amy Canham directly at acanham *at* bu.edu.
Here is a post from a Peace Corps Volunteer that is in Zambia. She talks about helping out with Child Health Week, children taking baths, food, and conversations with locals.
An excerpt:
There has been a pretty bad outbreak of measles in Zambia so the Child Health week was geared just towards giving information about measles and then giving the vaccine to kids 6 months to 4 years 11 months. My job in this process was to write down the child’s name and age on a pink card. It was pretty hectic, and at times overwhelming. One of the saddest parts was that sometimes if the mother didn’t have the under 5 card, she didn’t know the day, month or even YEAR her child was born. Just as bad- many of the mother’s couldn’t spell their children’s names. I understand they do not have to write it very much- but it is still pretty sad that they give their child a name they can’t spell. The positive is that hundreds of kids are now protected from measles.
Speaking of babies… I have to mention how funny it is when the kids in the village get bathed. You know when a child has recently been bathed because they are literally GLOWING. The mothers here SLATHER the kids in either glycerin or petroleum jelly after being washed.
Summary: Nearly all of the equipment needed to treat trauma patients in Zambia is imported. This causes multiple problems ranging from high costs to maintenance. There is a critical need for local design and manufacture of trauma equipment that will undoubtedly save countless lives. In this regard, this comprehensive project focuses on first understanding and analyzing the role and function of trauma equipment. The project will then do a needs assessment of these pieces of equipment. Finally, the project will focus on mechanical analysis, design and manufacturing of these pieces of equipment. Currently, we are focusing on simple mechanical devices including spinal precautions, C-spine collars for Cervical Spine protection, simple suction/water seal system for Chest Tube placement and drainage, locally made orthopedic splints and weight systems for setting fractures. All of these pieces of equipment are routinely used but are too costly for the hospital to procure regularly. Additionally, with the unique needs of patients, these pieces need to be available locally with robust designs. Design and manufacture of these pieces of equipment will integrate engineering efforts with a dire medical need in trauma and critical care. The project will involve close collaboration with UNZA school of medicine, departments of orthopaedics, surgery and critical care and the UTH in Lusaka.
Objectives:
A critical needs assessment of trauma equipment.
Design and analysis of mechanical components of trauma equipment.
Local manufacturability to produce robust, cheap and easy to use equipment.
Student Tasks:
To carry out extensive assessment of needs and current status of trauma equipment.
To identify the failures in current trauma equipment and quantitatively analyze the reasons for failure.
To design robust, cheap and easy to use trauma equipment.
To evaluate local manufacturability of these components.
Project: Redesign for orthopaedic equipment to correct clubfoot.
Summary: Clubfoot is a common problem in infants and children in Zambia, whereby children a unable to carry out normal activities such as walking or running due to the angle of the feet. Fortunately, this problem can be corrected with a simple biomechanical device that consists of a metal bar connected to shoes at an appropriate angle and flexibility. However, this simple device is currently imported from abroad and any local manufacturing is done without any scientific basis or analysis. The current project will focus on first analyzing the problem in terms of the mechanics of the bone and then developing a simple device that is easy to manufacture, is robust and is able to keep the feet at appropriate angles without causing major stresses or other orthopaedic abnormalities. The mechanical testing of the material for appropriate material and stress properties as well as age appropriate angles and flexibility are critical components that need to be addressed. The project will involve close collaboration with UNZA school of medicine, department of orthopaedics and the UTH in Lusaka. Improvements in this design will hopefully lead to better manufacturing and significant improvement in the quality of life of many children facing challenges in mobility.
Objectives:
To carry out computational analysis of loads and stresses devices to correct clubfoot.
To design a simple device to correct clubfoot using the Ponsetti method.
Student Tasks:
To carry out literature review on mechanical analysis of clubbed feet and associated bones and cartillage.
To study redesign and material properties necessary for correcting clubfoot
To investigate the effect of body weight, age, height and disability on loads.
To identify areas of improvement and current bottlenecks.
To investigate the local manufacturability of the device.
100 x 100 