The frugal design of a medical centrifuge
Distributed production as a frugal technology to increase access to medical devices in low- and middle-income countries
Jan-Carel Carel Diehl (TU Delft - Design for Sustainability)
T.E. Agbana (TU Delft - Team Michel Verhaegen)
G-Young Van (Independent researcher)
Ludo Hille Ris Lambers (Student TU Delft)
K.T. Samenjo (TU Delft - Design for Sustainability)
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Abstract
A growing awareness of health as a human right, mainly in low- and middle-income countries, is promoting universal health access for increasing numbers of people. Universal access to health to a large extent depends on access to medical equipment and medical staff. In this chapter, we focus on the access to medical equipment, more specifically, equipment for diagnostics and how frugal innovation and distributed manufacturing can contribute to an increase of access to these devices. We present a case study of a frugal design for a centrifuge for sample preparation for schistosomiasis. This neglected tropical disease impacts the lives of over 240 million people, mainly in sub-Saharan Africa