The extent to which circular economy principles have been applied in the design of medical devices for low-resource settings in Sub-Saharan Africa.: A systematic review

Healthcare facilities in low-resource settings in Sub-Saharan Africa are plagued<br/>with issues of non-functional and obsolete medical devices, which ultimately<br/>end up prematurely disposed of as waste. With increasing healthcare demands,<br/>stopping medical device disposal is imperative. One way to achieve this is<br/>to leverage circular...

A Context-specific Design of an Electrosurgical Unit and Monopolar Handheld to Enhance Global Access to Surgical Care: a Design Approach Based On Contextual Factors

To comply with the large global need for surgery, surgical equipment that fits the challenging environment in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) should be designed. The aim of this study is to present a context-specific design of an electrosurgical unit (ESU) and a monopolar handheld to improve global access to surgery. This paper...

Availability, procurement, training, usage, maintenance and complications of electrosurgical units and laparoscopic equipment in 12 African countries

Background<br/>Strategies are needed to increase the availability of surgical equipment in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs). This study was undertaken to explore the current availability, procurement, training, usage, maintenance and complications encountered during use of electrosurgical units (ESUs) and laparoscopic equipment.<br/><br/...

Comparison of the tissue interaction between thermal ablation and cryotherapy as treatment for cervical precancerous lesions in an ex-vivo model

Both cryotherapy and thermal ablation are treatment methods for cervical precancerous lesions in screening programs in resource constrained settings. However, for thermal ablation the World Health Organization stated that there is insufficient data to define a standard treatment protocol. This study used an ex-vivo model to compare the tissue...

Towards increased global availability of surgical equipment

The need for surgery in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is tremendous; more people die from treatable surgical conditions than from tuberculosis, malaria and HIV put together. A crucial barrier to surgical care in LMICs is the limited availability of surgical equipment, which results in delays and cancellations of surgeries on a daily...

Barriers to availability of surgical equipment in Kenya

Background &amp; Objective: The need for surgery is currently not met in Sub-Saharan Africa, requiring both extra workforce and surgical equipment. Currently, there is a gap in the availability of surgical equipment which, among others, limits the provision of safe surgery. To design strategies to increase availability, the use of surgical...

A systematic review and meta-analysis of thermal coagulation compared with cryotherapy to treat precancerous cervical lesions in low- and middle-income countries

Background: Thermal coagulation is gaining popularity for treating cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) in screening programs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) due to unavailability of cryotherapy. Objectives: Assess the effectiveness of thermal coagulation for treatment of CIN lesions compared with cryotherapy, with a focus on...

Equipment for essential surgical care in 9 countries across Africa: availability, barriers and need for novel design

Shortages of medical equipment in low-and-middle income countries (LMICs) have been found by several previous studies that assessed surgical capacity. To increase surgical capacity, there is a need to identify the availability of specific types of surgical equipment on a local, regional and national level. A survey was conducted among surgeons...

Roadmap for design of surgical equipment for safe surgery worldwide

Safe and affordable surgery is not accessible for five billion people when they need it. Multiple surgical capacity studies have shown that hospitals in low-And-middle income countries do not have complete coverage of basic surgical equipment such as, theatre lights, anesthesia machines and electro surgical units. Currently, almost all...

A sensitivity analysis of acoustic wave propagation through the ankle joint space.

Ultrasound imaging is known to be non-invasive, fast, and cost-effective. However, a drawback is its reflection on bone. Therefore, an alternative acoustic wave propagating technique is being developed that eventually should be able to diagnose osteochondral defects (OCDs) that are now often missed with conventional imaging techniques. A novel...