MIT hackers turn toys into medical equipment

With some creativity and resourcefulness, a group of “hackers" is turning everyday toys into makeshift but effective medical equipment – a potential boon for developing countries. Jose Gomez-Marquez, who heads the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Innovations in International Health initiative, has been noted for turning items like drinking straws into pipettes. “Most of the devices that get donated to developing countries fail because they were not designed to be used in these environments. We need to make the Land Rover version of medical devices for these countries. Right now we are sending the Ferrari versions and they fail," he said in an interview with tech site CNET. The CNET report noted Gomez-Marquez, who it dubbed the “MacGyver of medical devices," had used the drinking-straw pipette at a tuberculosis hospital in Leon, Nicaragua. Among the other medical devices he fashioned out of toys and everyday equipment were:

• A nebulizer powered by a bike pump, which may benefit asthmatic patients in areas without electricity.
• Printable diagnostics, using a printer to cut designs onto paper. The CNET report said person could provide a saliva or blood sample, drop it onto the paper-based device, and hold a mobile phone up to read the results instantly. With the data uploaded to a central database, authorities can map the spread of infectious diseases like dengue fever in real time.
• Lab-on-a-chip devices made in the mold of Lego bricks, with doctors and nurses able to create their own tests, depending on their diagnostic needs.

Gomez-Marquez hinted at kits to help users in developing countries fashion their own devices, saying the key is to empower users who will use the devices. “One of the ways to empower better designs is by empowering users who are everyday users of the devices. So we made these kits to do that," he said. — TJD, GMA News