Solid Innovation, Endless Possibilities - Bringing Excellent Imaging Tools to East Africa
In Nairobi, Kenya, Prof. Sudhir Vinayak and his team are working to acquire better imaging evidence with contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) for liver on Resona I9.
A Silver Lining in the Great Rift Valley
A Silver Lining in the Great Rift Valley
The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) is a network of private, non-denominational development agencies. AKDN is committed to enhancing the living conditions in the poorest regions of Asia and Africa, eradicating poverty at root, and improving the quality of life of more than 8 million people in poor rural areas. For over 60 years, AKDN has been focusing on healthcare, aiming to address some of the chronic health problems from a broad, long-term perspective. It currently operates one of the largest nonprofit private health care systems in the developing world, having trained thousands of nurses, midwives and doctors with established educational institutions and universities.
“Improve the quality of life of all who live there”
Prof. Sudhir Vinayak is currently the Professor and Chair, Department of Radiology, Aga Khan University Hospital, Kenya. He also serves as the Hon Treasurer of International Society of Radiology (ISR) and the Hon Secretary of World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology (WFUMB).
Prof. Sudhir Vinayak
Hon. Treasurer, The International Society of Radiology
With the goal to advance the educational and research progress in the area, Prof. Sudhir Vinayak has been quite active and has significantly contributed to the academic community. Authoring numerous worldwide guidelines on the use of ultrasonography that have been frequently cited, he has been involved in writing Radiology textbooks and is on the editorial board for several journals. His scientific interests include thyroid and breast imaging and obstetric imaging.
On May 19, 2022, Prof. Sudhir Vinayak made a keynote speech titled “Critique of the Current Guidelines and Recommendations on the Clinical Use of Liver Elastography” at the Global Ultrasound Forum hosted by Mindray. The speech was proven to be a highly rewarding experience for the listeners and promoted academic exchanges among experts from different countries around the world.
Barriers Needing to Be Broken Down
It is known that the healthcare in East Africa is faced with these challenges: limited access to quality medical systems, insufficient research, and health worker shortage.
Insufficient medical technologies and tools: A lack of technologies and tools that are critical to ensure timely diagnosis, disease management, and treatment planning across many medical specialties, from pediatrics to women's health.
Inconsistent imaging quality: An urgent need for efficient and accurate imaging solutions to help clinicians deliver impactful, high-quality care, without working longer.
Shortage of caregivers: Doctor to Patient ratio is low - there is only 1 doctor, 6 nurses and 10 hospitals per 10,000 population in this region. It is therefore imperative to improve primary care by increasing access to medical education and driving clinical standardization across the health system.
Aligned Goals, Endless Possibilities
Helping clinicians deliver impactful, high-quality care, without working longer
To address these challenges, the AKDN health system has been expanding its operations in South Asia and East Africa. Primary health care facilities are linked to major teaching hospitals, such as the Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi, one of the best hospitals on the continent established in 1958.
Due to the hospital's positioning of providing care to an economically diverse population, Prof. Sudhir Vinayak, as one of the hospital's primary academic leaders, found it necessary to expand the diagnostic system portfolio in the hospital. He expected to bring in new upgraded imaging devices in the radiology department to better assist with their research and student training activities.
Prof. Sudhir Vinayak had some specific requirements:
- No compromise on the performance of the devices. Due to the hospital's educational and research role in the region, it is logical that imaging devices from world-class brands are widely used in the hospital.
- Suitability for contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) and elastography. Both Prof. Sudhir Vinayak and his medical students are keen on the application prospects of technologies of these areas.
- Providing great help in increasing the hospital's influence in the region to better fulfill its vision.
- Offering a highly cost-effective solution to support the hospital's expansion plans.
Upholding a similar philosophy to Aga Khan, Mindray is committed to making medical care accessible to more people by optimizing and sharing medical technologies worldwide. With a patient-centered approach, Mindray has been working with its partners and the medical community to explore innovations for the masses.
Supporting caregivers with more innovative ultrasound technologies
However, at the beginning, Prof. Sudhir Vinayak found it difficult to accept equivalent devices manufactured by unfamiliar brands. As the first expert in sub-Saharan Africa to conduct a contrast pilot project with leading programs, Prof. Sudhir Vinayak had high expectations for the quality and performance of imaging devices. He did not think it necessary to test Resona I9 until he found that Mindray has a comprehensive range of imaging innovations and has established close cooperation with international experts in these fields. After trying on the system himself, he was impressed by the extraordinary performance of Resona I9.
Prof. Sudhir Vinayak
“Ultrasound imaging is one of the most commonly used diagnostic procedures in the health care field. The technology plays a significant role in timely diagnosis, disease management and treatment planning across a number of medical specialties, from pediatrics to women's health. When testing Mindray's Resona I9, we were impressed by its imaging quality and elastography capacity. It allows us to bring optimized and innovative tools to facilitate research and education in the area.”
Meanwhile, Mindray intends to establish a trial center in the hospital to not only improve the hospital's impact in the local region, but also aid in future research, student training, and budget management. As Prof. Sudhir Vinayak's trust in Mindray grew deeper, new collaboration opportunities are opened up to facilitate academic exchanges. Prof. Sudhir Vinayak was invited as a keynote speaker to deliver lectures on his field of expertise for Chinese peers. He was also offered the opportunity to interact with hospitals in China to better understand Mindray's imaging technologies.
Education is behind the improved outcomes
Each country in Africa has respective challenges in meeting the medical needs of their most vulnerable area. The frequent movement of people and animals along with the regional trade is compounding these challenges. To prepare the health workers for these challenges, a common solution is to provide them with improved education and training.
In response to those challenges and to bridge the gap in the availability of healthcare resources, Mindray helped to build several ultrasound schools in the region in 2021, making advanced technologies and knowledge accessible to more clinicians so that they can provide better diagnosis and treatment for patients.
To promote standardized guidelines and expert consensuses, Mindray has been working with high-caliber health care and medical providers and provided necessary tools to co-publish the Consensus on Quality Control of Ultrasound Examination of Breast Diseases.
Additionally, through an ongoing joint effort with doctors' associations from China and Kenya, Tanzania, and Ghana, Mindray has delivered two chapters for the 2022 China-Africa OBGYN ultrasonography standardized program, offering an educational opportunity for clinicians in Africa to advance their knowledge in the discipline. Two more chapters will become available in the pipeline of the year.
The hospital later acquired dozens of DC-70 for outreach purposes. The cooperation with significant industry agencies is highly appreciated by AKDN health systems, as it helps to address the wider needs of societies, in turn improving health care quality.
“We have been looking for the latest and innovative tools for connected, integrated, and analyzed patient information in the new distributed care model. Mindray's ultrasound solution fits in greatly in that part of our vision.”
Advances in ultrasound technology such as embedded AI and deep learning algorithms can be a great aid to health care providers in their efforts to bring the best possible care to patients. Using the more innovative equipment, clinicians can make confident diagnoses faster, ensuring the patients they treat get the right interventions at the right time.
Mindray medical imaging has been innovated to drive a smarter, more efficient future with ultrasound and provide customized solutions to health care providers.
