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Background

In 2007, a group of renowned professors at Northwestern University were enlisted by a local Rotary Club to assist with a project with the World Health Organization (WHO) to help find a solution to the lack of availability of low-cost digital X-ray equipment in the developing world.  According to the WHO, two-thirds of the world lacks access to basic X-ray services.  Because 60% of medical conditions seen in first-referral, primary care settings require X-ray to properly diagnose, the lack of X-ray capabilities hinders the delivery of effective, quality medical care. 

Assessments

After studying the problem, these professors and their students learned that the scope of the challenge went beyond just a lack of equipment.  Even when limited resource medical facilities in the developing world received X-ray equipment, it was often inappropriate, complicated technology which locals lacked the ability to operate and repair.  As a result, the equipment often went unused and was just as often stolen and sold on the black market.  The systems at these sites were also frequently film based which meant that they required a constant supply of expensive film and chemicals to develop the images and that the films could only be read locally.  With radiologists in short supply in the developing world, film based systems are impractical as there is often no one trained to read the X-rays onsite or nearby. 

Concerns

After studying the problem, these professors and their students learned that the scope of the challenge went beyond just a lack of equipment.  Even when limited resource medical facilities in the developing world received X-ray equipment, it was often inappropriate, complicated technology which locals lacked the ability to operate and repair.

As a result, the equipment often went unused and was just as often stolen and sold on the black market.  The systems at these sites were also frequently film based which meant that they required a constant supply of expensive film and chemicals to develop the images and that the films could only be read locally.  With radiologists in short supply in the developing world, film based systems are impractical as there is often no one trained to read the X-rays onsite or nearby. 

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