Cell Phone Applications for Clinical Diagnostic Therapeutic and Public Health Use by Front Line Health Care Workers
Description: Mozambique is, paradoxically, both one of the poorest countries in the world and one of the most rapid adopters of cell phone technology. The cell phone network reaches a large proportion of the country, and large numbers of health workers already carry them. This project will create a suite of applications that make use of cell phone processors to improve diagnostic and therapeutic options for front-line Mozambican health workers. These applications include: reference material in the cell phone’s memory; calculators for clinical decision support such as a drug dosage calculator; and a processor to analyse inputs from medical hardware sensors such as a low-cost pulse oximeter probe or a simple ECG lead set. The project will also document the impact of the suite of application from the perspective of front-line health workers in Mozambique.
Country/Region: Mozambique
Funding Agencies: Microsoft Research
Partner Organisations:Dr Rens Scheepers and Prof Liz Sonenberg of the Department of Information Systems, University of Melbourne are also principal investigators.
Project duration: March 2008-March 2009
See also: http://research.microsoft.com/erp/fundingopps/rfps/CellPhoneAsPlatformForHealthcare_Awards.aspx#E2B