Problem Statement
Digital health interventions can potentially address some of Africa's healthcare delivery challenges. However, lack of evidence of their efficacy, cost-effectiveness and improved health outcomes has hampered their integration into health systems. The project aims to implement a 5G digital health testbed for generating such evidence for novel digital health interventions.
Progress Highlights
A working 5G testbed prototype based on open-source software, off-the-shelf mobile network devices, and a working virtual clinic system prototype have been developed. Three master's students have graduated, and additional funding of about $ 100,000 USD has been received due to the impact of this project. Several local and international conference papers were presented, 1 journal paper was published, and one book chapter was in print. An industry partner has indicated interest in adopting the virtual clinic system and will provide additional funding for implementing a real-world 5G test infrastructure based on the developed prototype.
Key Findings
Evidence for teleaudiology has been established. Plans for implementing a real-world 5G test network are underway. An industry partner has expressed interest in purchasing the virtual clinic system (VCS). There is significant interest in using the VCS for telesurgery, mental health, and other specialist medical services.
Potential Impact
This project will apply novel concepts to develop a secured real-world 5G digital health testbed to provide a platform for testing and evaluating commercially available mHealth applications and medical devices originally designed for in-person care. The expected impact of the project is the accelerated translation of research results into practical interventions that can help strengthen Africa healthcare system.
Summary
Ineffective healthcare delivery in African countries continues to derail the efforts of advancing health care services to its populace. Dr Bessie Malila’s project goal is to have a platform for evaluating the capabilities of 5G technologies in delivering novel digital health applications and services such as real-time transfer of large health data files, normal/robotic surgery aided by augmented/virtual reality, virtual clinics; evaluating models of designed for rural and remote communities; and modelling 5G smart hospitals which will revolutionize healthcare delivery in Africa.
Grantee Description
Dr Bessie Malila is Junior Research Fellow in the Division of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. She obtained her Ph.D. in Telecommunications engineering in 2017 and her doctoral work focused on 5G technologies. From 2017 to date, her research has focused on the application of 5G technologies in Digital Health, as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow and Junior Research Fellow in the Division of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Cape Town.
Dr Malila’s passion has been on how communication technologies can be leveraged to aid in addressing the challenge of healthcare delivery in Africa. Through the proposed project, she will investigate the feasibility of delivering digital health applications and services using 5G technologies and evaluating and validating the same on a 5G digital health testbed and also through clinical trials in hospitals and clinics in Cape Town.
Project: Development of a secure 5G and beyond digital health test bed for modelling telemedicine systems, mHealth applications and smart hospitals.
Digital health interventions have proved to be cost-effective and capable of bypassing traditional healthcare infrastructures and national regulations. Concerns over security issues, reliability, and reluctance by governments to integrate digital health interventions with healthcare systems have hampered the development of digital health testbeds. However, this is set to change, driven by the emergence of technologies such as 5G, Blockchain, and X-Road; and the need to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 disease. Implementation of digital health testbeds is already underway in other parts of the world, but not in Africa. This project aims to apply novel concepts to develop a secured real-world 5G digital health testbed that will provide a platform for testing and evaluating commercially available mHealth applications and medical devices, originally designed for in-person care. The expected impact of the project is the accelerated translation of research results into practical interventions that can help strengthen African healthcare systems.
