Upgrading Maternal Diagnostic Tools in Sub-Saharan Africa

Butterfly Network, a digital health company transforming care with handheld, whole-body ultrasound, has received a grant for $5 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to improve maternal and foetal health. Through this grant, Butterfly will provide 1,000 healthcare workers in Sub-Saharan Africa with Butterfly iQ+, the world’s only handheld, whole-body point-of-care ultrasound probe. As part of this initiative, 500 probes will be given to mid-level practitioners in Kenya and 500 will be distributed to healthcare workers in South Africa; both distributions will focus on improving maternal and foetal health. Pregnancy complications represent some of the largest contributors to morbidity and mortality in resource-constrained care settings. Butterfly Network will document best practices for point-of-care ultrasound utilisation that can be leveraged to optimise the qualitative and quantitative clinical and economic impact of Butterfly iQ+ deployments across other care settings. Additionally, a portion of this grant will also be used to accelerate the launch of new maternal and foetal health capabilities available within the Butterfly iQ+ mobile application.

SOURCE: BUSINESS INSIDER