Student develops App for detecting Pre-eclampsia
Abubakar Suleiman Tsamiya, a medical student, at Kampala International University, came across a pre-eclampsia patient, who almost lost her life because they did not have proper health records, in April 2016.
The condition characterized by high blood pressure or swelling of the body usually leads to liver and kidney failure, blood clotting, seizures and maternal and infant deaths.
But it can be managed through early detection, timely referral, appropriate management and efficient follow-up.
According to Dr Annette Nakimuli, the head of Gynecology and Obstetrics at Makerere University, pre-eclampsia is the leading cause of death among mothers in Uganda following haemorrhage.
In a desire to help such mothers overcome the burden, Tsamiya developed an innovative tool for integrated management of Pre-eclampsia.
The tool is now marketed as the Pre-Eclamptic Toxaemia graph (Petograph), a mobile and desktop application that can be used to determine whether an expectant mother is at risk of pre-eclampsia.
With the help of a portable hand wrist blood pressure machine, pregnant women can measure their blood pressure and enter their results into the Petograph application on their mobile phones or desktops.
After less than three seconds, results appear on a popup screen.
The App provides a template for data recording that can help reduce the risk of mothers suffering from pre-eclampsia losing their lives due to mismanagement.
The application needs internet to work.
On the open market, the hand wrist costs 120,000 Shillings and the application is free of charge from Google Play Store.
According to Tsamiya, the application is being used by 181 mothers in the country today.
Currently, the application that is used in Kampala International University teaching hospital, Jinja Referral Hospital, Mubende Regional Referral Hospital and Hoima Regional Referral Hospital.
Tsamiya is one of 45 inventors whose innovations were chosen as finalists in the MTN 2017 Innovators award that will be held on November 8.
This will be the second time that the awards are being hosted. The first time was in 2015.
The inventors have been divided into categories that include; Health, Finance, SMEs, Education, Agriculture, Woman In Innovations, Innovation Achiever and best mobile app.
A winner will be chosen from each of the eight categories and given a cash prize of $3000.
Susan Kayemba, senior manager Digital Services MTN Uganda said that the awards are a way of supporting inventors in the country.
