Low-cost and radical technologies that are improving the world’s health are set to be unveiled tomorrow.
The technologies often avoid electricity and the need for complex parts so they can be used in the world’s poorest countries.
They include the "AidPod", which allows anti-diarrhoea kits to hitch a ride on trucks delivering crates of bottles of Coca Cola.
And a "donkey ambulance", developed for Afghanistan, enables a pregnant woman to be taken safely to a field clinic to give birth. The woman sits between two u-shaped air bags.
The devices are set to be revealed at a conference of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in London.
Another device is a mobile centrifuge system, designed to help extend the life of blood testing.
Dr Patrick Finlay, chairman of the Biomedical Engineering Association, said: “In the developed world, it takes years for a manufacturer to demonstrate that a new medical device or drug is safe and effective due to the approvals process.
"In the developing world, priorities are different: if lives can be saved by a quick and cheap innovation, even if results are not perfect, the device should be made available.
"The innovative designs on show at the event will show the vital role engineering can play in delivering better, more effective health care to millions of people living in extreme poverty.”
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