A couple of times we can across the proverb that goes  “necessity is the mother of innovation” but from the great number of innovation that have come through due to the need, the above is more than a proverb but rather the rationale behind innovation

The major question that everyone making it through school that they should ask themselves is “What I am I adding to the prevailing tool of knowledge” Well Brian Gitta and his team responded boldly to that question by inventing a Malaria testing application that uses light to test for malaria other than the traditional way of drawing blood from a patient. The Innovation that they later called Matibabu

The Birth of Matibabu

When Gitta contracted malaria in 2012, he had already been admitted to hospital with the disease numerous times since childhood. He envisioned a “mobile medical Centre” to offer a quick, painless test to diagnose the disease without the long waiting times, common in state hospitals.

In an interview with EHN, Gitta explained that many people in Uganda have had malaria. “I was two or three years old when I first contracted it,” said Gitta. Following his vision, Gitta enlisted the help of his Makerere University (MU), IT peers, Josiah Kavuma, Simon Lubambo and Joshua Businge also known as Team Code 8, to develop the solution.

How it Works

Initially, Gitta and his team developed the app for Windows that works together with a custom portable finger Matiscope to rapidly diagnose malaria.

Patients place their finger inside the Matiscope where a red light contacts the skin and detects red blood cells.  Lead Developer, Josiah Kavuma said, “It’s been shown that infected red blood cells have a different physical, chemical and biomedical structure from a normal red blood cell, hence we used light-scattering technology to determine the scatter patterns of both normal and infected cells.”

Watch the Video below to get a more detailed understanding of how it works

Gitta went on to explain that test results can be delivered in as little as 15 minutes and will cost around $20 for both the app and Matiscope – drastically reducing the time, cost and medical consumables that normal blood test for malaria incur.

Components that make up matibabu

Social Impact of the Innovation

Gitta also sees the social impact that the app and Matiscope can deliver when used in remote, rural settings and outlined “the potential value of reduced socio-economic costs of the disease for 300-500 million people.” The app has won the attention of a number of organizations, including the Director of SAS Clinic in Uganda, Moses Kizito who said: “With this test people may be able to avoid a doctor’s consultation and treat malaria in its early stages before it causes anaemia and brain damage. Once this app comes out, the impact’s going to be great.”

Partnerships and Awards

Matibabu has been funded by USAID resources such as the Higher Education Solutions Network, the Resilient Africa Network, the Microsoft DreamSpark programme and Makerere University teaching hospital, Mulago Hospital.

In 2013, Matibabu won the Microsoft Inaugural Women’s Empowerment Award– Imagine Cup for best addressing issues that impact women globally. Matibabu has also made the top 10 Malaria apps list.

Challenges

Despite funding and global accolade, one of Matibabu’s challenges is that there aren’t many people with the right skills set to develop the components locally.  Currently, Gitta and his team are refining the prototype to meet the standards for use and optimize its functionality. Gitta said, “During the second quarter we will do large scale testing that go through approvals and once complete we will launch the app to health services.”

Future Plans

Gitta explained that they will also launch the app to consumers as a way to self-test for the disease and they also want to partner with Organizations such as WHO to distribute the technology as a non-mobile dependent and dedicated device to combat malaria.

Source * http://ehealthnews.co.za/malaria-test/