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RealScientists | Rukmani

26 Mar, 17 tweets, 7 min read

Most healthcare technologies are disruptive, but often come with a significant price tag. Coming from a developing country, the best kind of tech for me are ones that are cheap, easy-to-use and adaptable to multiple settings. So it’s #FrugalFriday!

@drillcover

Many countries can’t afford orthopedic surgical drills and resort to using regular drills that can’t be sterilized, and pose a risk of carrying disease. With @drillcover, any drill can be reused after sterilization cutt.ly/YxG8XtF

A centrifuge is pretty much the first instrument bought in a biomedical or diagnostic lab, but these are generally expensive. What if you could indulge in some biceps training while centrifuging samples? With this 20 cent paper-centrifuge, you can! cutt.ly/exG4Evh

But what use is it? It can make upto 125,000 revolutions per minute, more than some commercial centrifuges. And after just 15 minutes of spinning, malarial parasites can be isolated from the a sample of blood to be analyzed under a microscope.

But microscopes are expensive? No problem! The same group designed ultra-low cost (less than $1) paper-based microscopes with 140X magnification that can visualize anything from onion cells to flagellates in your pond to.. the malarial parasite. bit.ly/31mo06E

It is a great tool for education as well and its portability is a huge part of it – imagine being on your nature walk and you want to sample the water there – just take out your handy foldscope and be amazed!

Another similar hand-held device is a fidget-spinner inspired UTI (urinary tract infection) detector. With just a few spins, the device is able to isolate bacteria that can be dyed and detected, diagnosing UTIs.
cutt.ly/UxG3kZ3

Why is this important? UTI diagnostics generally take a few days and doctors in low-income countries resort to presciribing antibiotics without knowing if it indeed is a UTI. This device could help stop antibiotic resistance by decreasing antibiotic prescriptions.

If your intention is to watch bacteria grow, like is the case in many labs and industries, look no further than the low-cost optical density measuring device (ODX) made for under $25 with 3D printed parts.
bit.ly/3vZgk8p

Good hearing aids can cost $5000 you say? Not anymore, thanks to a clever innovation that will cost you $30 to make yourself. It amplifies higher pitches, has volume control and the team is working on making it smaller. bit.ly/2QIXjab

OCT scanners produce clear images of the different layers of our retina to allow optometrists to track eye conditions like glaucoma. But they cost close to $100,000, until someone made it for less than $5000, with 95% accuracy as the expensive ones. cutt.ly/rxGDlba

Groin hernia is a significant issue affecting millions of people yearly and expensive surgical meshes are not an option in low-income countries. Sterilized mosquito meshes to the rescue! They're as good as surgical meshes in fixing hernias, turns out.
nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…

Postpartum hemorrhage is the leading cost of maternal mortality, and uterine balloon tamponades are the standard of care in many countries. But these are expensive, and a low-cost version made with condoms, are equally effective in saving new mums. cutt.ly/qxHqwpu

Premature babies are at an increased risk of low body temp, which can be deadly. A low-cost infant warmer designed to look like a swaddle blanket is saving the lives of many infants by keeping babies warmer without the need for fancy equipment. cutt.ly/bxGJgmS

In the COVID pandemic, several research groups have taken up the challenge of rising demands and limited resources. When ventilator shortages were a major issue, some labs designed these low-cost versions with easily available replacements cutt.ly/bxGJ78p

Rapid antigen testing has been used to quickly identify COVID-19 infections, and companies are constantly innovating to make the tests more sensitive. This new test only needs a nespresso capsule, a COVID detection kit and boiling water to run at home. cutt.ly/NxGLV6p

Frugal innovation in the biotech space is a combination of extreme engineering and urgent need. Some of these techs may need more refinement to be deployed en masse, but the level of innovation is amazing! Would love to hear about your favorites ones, I haven’t covered them all!

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