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Cameroon tries out young inventor’s medical gadget

Cameroon has commenced trials on Africa’s first mobile system to transmit a cardiac signal over a mobile network, allowing heart patients in remote areas vital medical assistance. The system was invented by a local 26 year-old engineer.

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The Cardiopad is the brainchild of a local engineer who was just 24 years old when he invented it.

Medical staff at the Bafia Hospital are using the touch-screen medical tablet that enables heart examinations, such as the electrocardiogram (ECG), to be done remotely in rural locations while the results of the tests are wirelessly sent to specialists who can interpret them.

According to Zang, the Cardiopad is “the first fully touch screen medical tablet made in Cameroon and in Africa.” He believes it is an invention that could save numerous human lives, and says the reliability of the pad device is as high as 97.5%.

Cameroon’s 22 million-strong population has only 40 cardiologists concentrated in Douala or Yaounde which means that specialised care for some patients can only usually be found outside the country.

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5 years ago, when Zang started the project, he needed additional training and about $45,000 to develop the device. His family was unable to sponsor him and banks refused to finance the project, so he did what any sensible person would do: he turned to social media.

Zang and his brilliant invention, the Cardiopad. Photo: Le Jour

Zang and his brilliant invention, the Cardiopad. Photo: Le Jour

There, he found solutions which included the unexpected interest of Cameroon’s President Paul Biya, who personally gave him the money. He also got free online training from an engineering school in India, the Indian Institute of Technology.

The Cardiopad has been lauded by Cameroon’s scientific community for being extremely effective.

Hanns Nfor of the Cameroon Medical Council said Zang has made proud not only Cameroon, but all of Africa.

“That boy is a genius. He is very, very, intelligent. He needs to be assisted in his effort to help people,” said Nfor.

Source: Voice of America

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