Biomedical Engineering for Africa

• Preliminary Pages
• Chapter 1. Introduction 
• Chapter 2. The Case for Biomedical Engineers in African Hospitals: A Clinician’s Point of View
• Chapter 3. Recent Developments in Biomedical Engineering Education in Africa: A Focus on Nigeria and the University of Ibadan
• Chapter 4. Creating a Department of Biomedical Engineering and an Undergraduate Programme – The University of Lagos Experience
• Chapter 5. Biomedical Engineering in Ethiopia
• Chapter 6. Biomedical Engineering and Entrepreneurship
• Chapter 7. Problem Identification and Needs Assessment for Healthcare Technologies
• Chapter 8. Frugal Biodesign: An approach for Developing Appropriate Medical Devices in Low-resource Settings
• Chapter 9. Materials for Medical Devices
• Chapter 10. User-Centred Design in a Health Innovation Course to Address Hearing Loss in the Elderly
• Chapter 11. Implementing a Design Methodology: Concept for a Head Positioning Device for Hospital Beds
• Chapter 12. Medical Device Concept for Burn Wound Exudate Detection
• Chapter 13. Infant Warming Device for Neonatal Surgery in a Low-Resource Settings
• Chapter 14. Needle Disposal Device for Use in Low-Resource Settings
• Chapter 15. An Electronically Controlled Gravity Feed Infusion Set for Intravenous Fluids
• Chapter 16. A Prototype Metabolic Cage for Rats and Mice for Biomedical Research in Nigeria
• Chapter 17. Biomedical Engineering Ethics
• Chapter 18. Intellectual Property Protection and Commercialisation
• Chapter 19. Medical Device Regulation in Africa
• Chapter 20. Healthcare Technology Management
• Chapter 21. Healthcare Technology Management in Zimbabwe
• Chapter 22. Mobile Health for Africa

Health technology innovation in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), including countries in Africa, falls far short of meeting the healthcare needs of these settings. The result is a heavy reliance on products and technologies imported from industrialised countries that are often not suited to, or sustainable for, LMICs.

Appropriate healthcare products for LMICs are best developed in these countries, where local knowledge and understanding of needs, context and available resources may be incorporated into designs and implementation plans. The objectives for enabling health technology development in LMICs include: 1) expanding the base of expertise through research training programmes with a problem-solving focus; 2) stimulating new knowledge, approaches and solutions by enabling innovation; and 3) integrating research communities within and across institutions to build critical mass.

The field of biomedical engineering is central to health technology innovation. This book is a response to the need for biomedical engineering capacity in Africa. It is grounded in the African context. It serves as a resource for academics and students in biomedical engineering, for those interested in entering the field in any capacity and for practitioners at every stage of product development. University leaders intent on establishing new biomedical engineering programmes or departments, may draw on the content for guidance on structuring their offerings. The book reaches beyond Africa, as it is relevant to other LMIC settings, and provides insights to guide global health initiatives focused on technology innovation.