Wide Angle: Tech for the Developing World, Stat!

May 06, 2009

Dr. Robert Malkin is a professor of bioengineering at Duke University and director for the Engineering World Health program. He recently spoke with me about key problem areas in the developing world and emerging solutions. I did wince a few times.

Jaundice  Untreated, jaundice leads to disabilities and even death. A group that started in Malkin's EWH program, PhotoGenesis Medical, came up with an LED device the size of a boomerang called BluLine PhotoTherapy to safely treat neonatal jaundice.

Hemorrhaging  “Being a mother is the leading cause of death for certain-aged women,” Malkin says. Researchers have been working on balloon-like devices that go into the uterus after a mother has given birth to prevent bleeding from turning into hemorrhaging. Doctors in Bangladesh even designed a device from condoms.

High blood pressure  It might not sound sexy, but hypertension is a widespread problem. "You really need a technology that basically anybody could use that could be used all day every day for months without breaking," Malkin says. Oh, and it needs to be in the $10 range. He says that the World Health Organization has been poring over potential devices.

Testing medical devices is an expensive process that requires hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars. "We really need a system to encourage small businesses to enter the market," Malkin says. "It’s just not going to happen based on the good will and niceness of a handful of organizations." Especially when additional pressing health areas include male circumcision, traffic accidents, and diarrhea. This is no place for a squeamish engineer.

Photo: A pregnant woman at UNICEF-supported health center in Sam Ouandja refugee camp. Credit: Pierre Holtz for UNICEF.