At 24, Cameroonian engineer, Arthur Zang, is the epitome of innovation at its best. Zang has invented the Cardiopad, a touch screen medical tablet, and the first of its kind in Africa. The tablet enables heart examinations such as electrocardiograms to be performed from a distance. Meaning such examinations can be administered at remote rural areas and the results, transferred wirelessly to specialist for interpretation. Electrodes are placed on the patient in question and connected to a module, which is then connected to the Cardiopad; the results are then transmitted from the tablet to the specialist that will interpret them. The Cardiopads will save countless patients the hassle of travelling long distances to major hospitals for tests. According to Zang, the device is 97.5% effective, he developed this technology to facilitate the treatment of heart disease in Cameroon as well as the rest of Africa and believes that it will save numerous human lives.
To put the significance of this invention into perceptive it is important to know that Cameroon is a country with the population of about 20 million and only 30 heart surgeons. To further exacerbate the situation, these surgeons are based in the country’s economic centers Yaoundé or Douala. This scarcity of specialist forces patients with cardiac ailments to travel long distances that can worsen their conditions just for examinations and consultations. Some patients must make appointments months in advance and in some case some even die while waiting for their appointment dates. Zang believes that his invention will reduce the cost of heart examination. His Cardiopad has attracted a lot of interest in the African technological and medical communities and has already been validated by the Cameroonian scientific community. Zang is currently looking for mediums to generate capital to commercially produce his invention.
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