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In African Villages, Phones Can Become Ultrasound Scanners
31–40 of 59 posts
Re: In African Villages, Phones Can Become Ultrasound Scanners
#32Only works with Apple products? That's rather out of touch.
I too doubt iPhone is the cheapest capable smartphone and the most cost-effective way to do whatever it can do.
Re: In African Villages, Phones Can Become Ultrasound Scanners
#33This is beautiful. As a developer this is the kind of app I would like to work on, that has a direct good impact on people's life. I know there are all kinds of lists on github. Is there a list of companies that are inherently good (I know it's subjective) and are hiring developers?
As an engineer working in non-profit health, just remember the grass is always greener.
Re: In African Villages, Phones Can Become Ultrasound Scanners
#34This is beautiful. As a developer this is the kind of app I would like to work on, that has a direct good impact on people's life. I know there are all kinds of lists on github. Is there a list of companies that are inherently good (I know it's subjective) and are hiring developers?
There's actually a great list provided by the folks at Fast Forward, specifically focused on tech forward non-profits
https://www.ffwd.org/tech-nonprofit-jobs/opportunities/?_sft...
Re: In African Villages, Phones Can Become Ultrasound Scanners
#35Hi guys, Butterfly is growing and we are hiring senior engineers on a variety of teams! Check out some openings here https://careers.smartrecruiters.com/4Catalyzer/butterfly-net... Also, feel free to send me an email or send your application directly to my email maria@butterflynetinc.com
For even more context here: they're part of a biotech incubator called 4Catalyzer. The other companies are also working on potentially life-changing products too, including cancer drugs and seizure detection.
Lots of possible roles, take a look!
Re: In African Villages, Phones Can Become Ultrasound Scanners
#36This is the kind of investment in technology I think Bill & Melinda Gates should be remembered by, as well as their investment in vaccines and contraception. Great stuff ( and well done to the inventor)
At a tech meetup a while back, I chatted with someone who had just finished reading a book about Disney. They were lit up and enthused. Walt was a saint; Disney Corporation is a distillation of sunlight and laughter; its motivation and impact on the world is bringing joy to children. I wasn't sure what to say. Perhaps I mumbled something like "I always worry when I haven't seen nuance, that I've noticed only one face…
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Re: In African Villages, Phones Can Become Ultrasound Scanners
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
Knowledge of animal anatomy or certain medical procedures are no help in trying to decipher an ultrasound image. I don't think you can just plop an ultrasound scanner into a farmer's hands and have them to do anything truly useful with it, to justify the investment. Not without training. One option would probably be to have a doctor remotely in a "command center" just looking at these as they are uploaded from the fi…
How much training do you need though: A one day class can cover "this is is normal, this is where you need help". Of course these are animals: farmers are willing to make economic decisions here. The risk/cost of a rare disease going undetected vs time to learn how to accurately diagnose it (or pay someone who has the training) is something that can be talked about.
> A one day class can cover
...probably not much more than a 1 day C++ course would offer a random person. :)
That's nowhere near what a farmer needs to read much into an ultrasound. It takes a medical student years of learning (medicine) topped by a lot of practice and experience in imaging until they are useful in actually reading an image. And even a 1-2 day course costs thousands of dollars.
It would be a massive expense for very little real life benefit. I'm guessing AI and a remote doctor would do better. I kept reading a lot of good news recently about AI helping with diagnostics in medical imaging so I guess we can't be too far.
Re: In African Villages, Phones Can Become Ultrasound Scanners
#38https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14869138
2 years ago build somebody a simple ultrasonic scanner with a Raspberry Pi.
Anyway it's great. A lot of such tech is just expensive .. because it is since ever and customer pay the price.
Re: In African Villages, Phones Can Become Ultrasound Scanners
#39This is the kind of investment in technology I think Bill & Melinda Gates should be remembered by, as well as their investment in vaccines and contraception. Great stuff ( and well done to the inventor)
I had similar thoughts, but then I started realizing that investing in fighting malaria or cheap ultrasound scanners will matter little if in 30-50 years much of our planet becomes uninhabitable, which is now nearly certain unless we take immediate action. These days I think almost all resources should be thrown into inventing and developing carbon capture technologies. I don't mean to belittle the achievement or sou…
All these things need to be done. My thoughts center around how do you provide a decent sustainable existence for the other 2-3 billion people on earth[1]. There are a lot of things that need to be done to make that happen. Really affordable basic healthcare is one of those things.
[1] Hint we can't do this via the raw growth and exploitation used to lift the first billion people out of poverty.
Re: In African Villages, Phones Can Become Ultrasound Scanners
#40This is beautiful. As a developer this is the kind of app I would like to work on, that has a direct good impact on people's life. I know there are all kinds of lists on github. Is there a list of companies that are inherently good (I know it's subjective) and are hiring developers?
As an engineer working in non-profit health, just remember the grass is always greener.
Does this mean you feel that your work is not altruistic?
Would you mind elaborating on that? Some days I feel like I’d rather work for a non-profit than where I am.