TakePart.com on Wednesday published a list of five cheap, effective medical gadgets that are saving lives around the world. Among those is the $25 Embrace Incubator, created a few years back by a group of Stanford graduate students. The other four:
- Sally Spinner: A hand-operated centrifuge, used to separate blood for transfusions and tests. Made from salad spinner (shown in image), plastic lids, a few combs, yogurt containers and glue gun.
- Three-dollar negative pressure pump: Applies suction to wounds and accelerates healing. Made from plastic tubing, airtight bandage and bellows pump.
- Peepoo disposable toilet: Single-use, self-sanitizing bags that render waste safe for burial. Made from degradable bioplastic and urea, a common, non-hazardous fertilizer that breaks down urine and feces.
- Cell phone microscope: Scans biological samples and sends what it sees to hospitals, clinics and lab technicians for diagnosis. Made from standard cell phone camera, bit of software and $10 in spare parts.
The first three products were invented by students at Rice University, MIT and UCLA. The Peepoo bag is the brainchild of a Royal Institute of Technology architecture professor.
Photo by Muffet
