Selected
2024 Global Health Equity Challenge

OpenFlexure Microscope

A locally manufactured high performance digital microscope and slide scanner for medical diagnostics.

Team Leader
Richard Bowman

Solution Pitch

The Problem

We are working to enable universal access to diagnostic microscopy. This is crucial to treatment of diseases like malaria (200M cases/600,000 deaths annually) and cancer (500,000 deaths annually in Africa). Our Solution will enable local manufacturing and maintenance of automated microscopes, delivering better diagnostics in a sustainable way.

The Solution

The OpenFlexure Microscope is an automated microscope that digitises patient samples to enable better record-keeping, quality control, and access to expert pathologists for small health facilities. It can be manufactured by a growing network of local engineers across the Global South, using easily-sourced components and 3D printed parts. OpenFlexure is shared under a fully open license that ensures control and ownership are retained by local teams. Local production of microscopes results in more robust medical supply chains, better availability of maintenance and spare parts, and retention of healthcare spending within the growing economies of the Global South. The OpenFlexure project is poised to realise these benefits for microscopy, and once successful will pave the way for a growing range of essential diagnostic technologies to be democratised.

Stats

While the solution is not yet in use for patient diagnostics, clinicians and students have used it as a training aid in Tanzania, Rwanda, Brazil, Philippines, Ukraine, and the USA

Solution Overview & Team Lead Details
More About Your Solution
Your Team
Your Business Model & Funding

Organization Type:

Not registered as any organization

Headquarters:

Glasgow, United Kingdom

Stage:

Prototype

Working In:

Tanzania, Rwanda, Ukraine, United States

Current Full-Time Employees:

3

Website:

https://openflexure.org/

Solution Team:
Richard Bowman
Richard Bowman
Dr
Julian Stirling
Julian Stirling
Joe Knapper
Joe Knapper