Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, Health Minister
An ultrasound scanner, Butterfly iQ, designed to replace stethoscope, is billed to hit the Ghanaian market and revolutionize healthcare delivery in the country.
The new diagnostic tool plugs into an iPhone and has a mobile app that interprets ultrasound images using artificial intelligence.
Butterfly iQ is currently working with Bridge to Health to connect doctors in Kenya and Uganda with its ultrasound equipment as a diagnostic tool in remote villages.
The shrinking of technology from the hard-to-transport lifesaving diagnostic tools like MRI/ PET scans to a mobile phone tool makes it a lot easier to bring such an important resource to patients in remotes places.
For small, under-resourced villages in the developing world, getting access to MRI/PET scans or ultrasound is difficult, and the Butterfly iQ’s could open up access to countries to have important diagnostic tools.
It is reported that the manufacturer of the diagnostic tool company is working with schools such as the New York University and University of Connecticut, to make sure that students have access to the device.
Diagnostic imaging technology is very expensive and requires a reliable source of power and this problem is what Butterfly iQ seeks to solve.
By Ernest Kofi Adu