Guinea startup Tulip Industries designs tablet to diagnose Covid-19 symptoms
To contribute to the collective effort to fight against the new coronavirus, Guinean startup Tulip Industries has designed a tablet that is able to identify Covid-19 symptoms.
The tablet, called Health Scan can determine the patient’s body temperature, heart rate and level of oxygen in the blood using a thermal camera and several sensors. This information can be used to detect fever or check that the lungs are functioning properly, allowing a diagnosis to be made in mere minutes.
In the throes of an epidemic like Covid-19, it is crucial to be able to identify suspected cases, and diagnose people who are in contact with individuals at risk. A lack of equipment invariably makes this difficult however, to say nothing of the challenge of overcoming fears of intrusive measures.
Mountaga Keita, CEO of Tulip Industries said: ''We can target the hottest part of the body and get a much more reliable temperature than from a Thermoflash forehead reading, as we saw in China during the first days of the epidemic.''
The designer of the tablet believes that it will help filter patients more effectively when they are admitted to hospital and identify those who require respiratory support. ''Test kits are very scarce in Guinea. There are about 20,000 for a population of over 12 million inhabitants,'' added Mountaga.
The tablet was originally designed for the armed forces and allowed military doctors to carry out medical examinations in hard-to-reach areas. ''We redesigned this tablet quickly so it could be used to fight against Covid-19,'' Mountaga said. The device is water-resistant and withstands falls from a height of up to 1.80 meters.
The Tulip Industries start-up had already gained attention in recent years by developing Octopus, an innovative telemedicine terminal, allowing health care professionals to diagnose and treat patients at a distance using telecommunications technologies, thereby reducing delays between diagnosis and a visit to the pharmacy.
Interviews.
[Interview] Caroline Mutuku, General Manager, Glovo, Kenya
Caroline Mutuku is Kenya's General Manager of multi-category app Glovo. Caroline joined Glovo in December 2022 from Swvl Kenya where she also served as the General Manager from December 2021. In this interview...read more here
[Interview] Renate Swanepoel, COO, INC. Networking
Renate Swanepoel is an entrepreneur, global networker and inspirational speaker that has helped thousands of people around the world to find their purpose. She has gained significant networking and communication...read more here
[Interview] Anne-Marie Chidzero, Chief Investment Officer, FSD Africa
Anne-Marie Chidzero is the Chief Investment Officer at the Financial Sector Deepening Africa (FSD Africa) Investments. In this interview, she talks about the risks and opportunities in backing Africa’s early-stage startups...read more here
[Interview] James Kilpatrick, Chair, Gravitilab, UK
Gravitilab is a "Space as a Service" business providing research, testing and qualification facilities to space agencies, government, academia and commercial enterprises. The company’s Chair and Chief Finance Officer...read more here
[Interview] Ramanjeet Singh, CEO, Woosper, USA
Woosper is a US-based digital advertising and marketing agency focused on creating experiences that help clients discover their place in the digital world. The CEO Ramanjeet Singh...read more here