A analysis undertaking at UiA is working to fight one of many world’s most uncared for tropical ailments. A cellular app has now been developed to coach healthcare staff in Africa to detect the illness.
Over 56 million women and girls are affected by feminine genital schistosomiasis (FGS).
The illness is brought on by the flatworm Schistosoma, which lives in contemporary water and infects people by way of the pores and skin.
The signs of FGS can resemble these of cervical most cancers, which impacts 400 million girls in Africa. Misdiagnosis is widespread.
On the identical time, the signs may be simply confused with these of sexually transmitted infections, which might have severe destructive penalties for younger ladies. Women and girls with FGS are additionally at greater danger of HIV and human papillomavirus (HPV).
“Worldwide, there are solely a handful of healthcare professionals who’re capable of diagnose it,” says Professor Santiago Gil Martinez on the Centre for e-Well being at UiA.
Constructed for the actual world
A brand new cellular app is now set to assist detect the illness. The app has been developed in collaboration between the IT division at UiA, the Division of Well being and Sports activities Science and UiA Nyskaping. That is the primary time that UiA’s personal IT builders have delivered an entire digital product for a analysis undertaking.
The app has been developed with the precise working circumstances customers face every day in thoughts.
“As soon as downloaded, it may be used with out an web connection. Healthcare professionals can select for themselves how a lot of the content material they need to have accessible, relying on their cellphone’s storage capability and entry to cellular knowledge”, says Hanne Skagestad Eikerapen, undertaking supervisor for the app’s improvement on the IT division.
To deal with native challenges similar to robust daylight, darkish rooms and restricted entry to electrical energy, darkish mode has been included within the very first model.
4-year research in three nations
The app improvement relies on the four-year analysis undertaking DUALSAVE-FGS, which was an EU-funded research carried out in South Africa, Eswatini and Mozambique.
Amongst different issues, the undertaking has developed a small digital camera – a so-called colposcope – which connects to a smartphone. This could take photos of sores and lesions, and has been particularly tailored and examined for FGS diagnosis. The intention is for the colposcopes to be manufactured domestically in Africa.
Round 20 younger researchers, most of whom are from African nations, are endeavor PhDs as a part of the undertaking. New information about FGS and pictures from the mini-colposcopes are getting used within the new app.
The FGS Coaching Utility was pre-launched throughout the worldwide FGS Summit convention at i4Helse on the Grimstad campus, 15-16 June 2026. It is going to be accessible on Google Play and the App Retailer this autumn.
