This is an archived course. A more recent version may be available at ocw.mit.edu.

Special Topics at Edgerton Center: D-Lab Health: Medical Technologies for the Developing World

As taught in: Spring 2009

Diagram: with the Aerovax vaccine backpack, 1 low skilled volunteer can innoculate 650 patients, at a 62% savings compared with conventional vaccine practices.

The Aerovax vaccine backpack is an example of the medical device solutions for the developing world considered in this class. (Image courtesy of Jose Gomez-Marquez.)

Instructors:

Jose Gomez-Marquez

Dr. Amit Srivastava

Ryan Scott Bardsley

Dr. Brian Tracey

MIT Course Number:

SP.718

Level:

Undergraduate

Course Features

Course Description

D-Lab Health provides multi-disciplinary approach to global health technology design via guest lectures and a major project based on fieldwork. We will explore the current state of global health challenges and learn how design medical technologies that address those problems. Students may travel to Nicaragua during spring break and work with health professionals, using medical technology design kits to gain field experience for their device challenge. As a final class deliverable, you will create a product design solution to address the challenges observed in the field. The resulting designs are prototyped in the summer for continued evaluation and testing.