Kenyan develops telemedicine software

By JOE KIARIE

Two years ago, David Odhiambo graduated with a degree in electrical and communications engineering at Masinde Muliro University.

But unlike his colleagues, he resisted the urge to dive straight into the job market due to a personal conviction that he had an extraordinary mission to accomplish before seeking formal employment. It is then that he applied and enrolled at the Kenya Industrial Research and Development Institute (Kirdi) for an incubation programme on software development.

After tussling with the technology, the 27-year-old has now emerged with what he claims could be a lasting solution to Kenya’s perennial doctors’ shortage. Odhiambo is set to launch a remote clinic; an innovative software programme he says is a new aspect of telemedicine in Kenya. Telemedicine involves the use of telecommunications and information technologies to provide clinical health from a distance.

Basic requirements

The clinic, he notes, only requires a computer installed with the software and internet connection plus several basic medical appliances that doctors everywhere use to save lives. The software package involves two graphical user interfaces installed in two different computers, preferably laptops. The interfaces are controlled from a central server, which coordinates interaction between a doctor and the patient. Both interfaces have sections representing virtual medical instruments such as a thermometer, a weighing scale and a height measuring scale.

The first interface is meant for use by a medic, or even an untrained person, who is in a remote area where professional medical intervention help is not readily available. The second interface is to be used by a doctor, who offers professional advice from any corner of the world provided there is Internet connection.

Upon encountering a patient in a far-flung area, and armed with the remote clinic, a medical practitioner starts by recording the basic details of the patient in a database on the software. The details include the name, age, sex, marital status, national identification card number, if any, phone number, email address as well as area of residency.

Once the nurse measures and feeds the patient’s height, weight and temperature into the remote clinic, the Body Mass Index ratio of the patient is automatically calculated and appears on the screen. If there is a confirmed disease outbreak in the area, a section is offered to fill in the details. The software also provides a control where one can enter the patient’s heart parameters such as systole, diastole and pulse. An external stethoscope integrated with the computer is used to measure the heartbeat rhythm. The heartbeat can be recorded separately or relayed to the doctor directly.

The person attending to the patient can also file a report describing the condition of the patient, as well as the symptoms to the doctor. Meanwhile, all this information appears on the doctor’s interface on the other end in real time. With high speed Internet, a video of the patient can also be simultaneously and instantaneously relayed to the doctor on the other end. Once the doctor has all the details of the patient, he can immediately diagnose the ailment and prescribe treatment or offer referral services to the patient.

Throughout the interaction, the doctor and the nurse can effectively communicate orally via open source video applications using headphones and a mouthpiece connected to the computer. All information sent to the doctor can be kept in an in-built database or printed out for future reference. Apparently, the first interface also has a panel from where one can read about the nature, cause, symptoms and treatment for various ailments such as cancer, malaria, TB, HIV/Aids, heart failure, common cold and wounds.

According to Odhiambo, one of the remote clinic’s main advantages is that, unlike many other forms of telemedicine, the fact that it can be installed on laptops means it can run on a car battery connected to a solar panel, making it more convenient to use in remote set-ups. He says the software is very flexible and can be easily updated with more value-adding features. For Internet connection, it relies on ordinary modems.

Custom-made

"The software is custom-made for use in Kenya but can be modified to serve other regions of the world," he explains.

Odhiambo says he intends to offer the software for non-commercial purposes, noting that it will be available for use by the public via medical institutions. "It will be a fulfillment of a dream to save lives in remote rural areas and slums," he says.

And with many inventive young Kenyans having lost intellectual property rights due to failure or delay in patenting, Odhiambo says he is in a dilemma over what to do to avoid falling victim to the same. "I have approached the Kenya Industrial Property Institute and realised that unlike in the developed world, you cannot patent software in Kenya. I am also yet to copyright the programme due to lack of funds, but there is no way I will hide this idea because I do not want to die with it," he states.

Most modern aspects of telemedicine remain a novel concept in Kenya. In March this year, an Indian medical tourism company announced that it was to introduce the concept to Kenya after successful implementation in Canada and Britain. The company said this would be the first such effort to enter Kenya. Dr Stephen Karimi, the chief science secretary at the National Council of Science and Technology (NCST), says this is an idea that the Government cannot afford to ignore.

"This software is just an advancement of existing forms of telemedicine but it is what a developing country like Kenya needs. It is a unique idea with immeasurable potential in terms of application since in Kenya we have a major problem in health administration," he states. He says that if not adopted by the Government or other agencies, the idea might soon find its way to the developed world and later be sold to Kenya at an exaggerated cost.

Susan Mutua, a nursing officer in Nairobi, says this kind of software is long overdue. "We have a situation where so many people are dying or suffering due to diseases that just need basic medical advice to treat. And while some aspects of telemedicine are available in leading private hospitals, Government hospitals do not have them despite the fact that they deal with majority of the population," she opines.

But she asserts that as much as the software can be a positive intervention due to its simplicity, the country needs more doctors.

Odhiambo admits that innovations by Kenyans have always been received with a lot of skepticism but says time will bail him out. He says he has always had a soft spot for software development and he courted this idea while in his Fifth year in campus.

"I had a close friend who used to help me conduct research on electro cardiology and in the process discerning filters to analyse heartbeat sounds. It is then that I realised that here is a way I can use technology to convey the functioning of the heart and other body organs in real time," he explains.