In delivering specialized healthcare in Ghana, patients from rural areas face challenges in attending post-operative care and follow-ups at Korle-Bu due to long distances. To address this, a surgeon from Canniesburn Plastic Surgery and Burns Unit in Scotland approached Microsoft Research on the use of their holoportation technology to bridge this gap. This technology streams live 3D content of patients to remote clinicians for real-time consultations, enabling pre- and post-operative care without requiring patients to travel.

The mobile 3DTM unit, housed in a van and operated by a team of technicians and engineers, will bring advanced medical capabilities to underserved regions. This mobile unit will facilitate the delivery of healthcare services, including pre-operative and post-operative consultations, previously impossible due to logistical constraints. This allows for more effective evaluation of procedures and helps determine when patients should arrive at the hospital.

The project began in 2020 with plans to setup the first system at Korle-bu Teaching Hospital. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team pivoted and installed the first system in Glasgow, conducting the initial tests there. Then in November 2023, the team made the trip to Accra, Ghana to set up the first 3DTM technology at Korle-Bu marking the first international collaboration in pre-op consultation and surgery.

To provide on-ground technical support and expand the use cases from Plastic Surgeries to other medical fields, Microsoft Research partnered with ECL. This collaboration aims to enhance innovation in specialized healthcare delivery.

On a visit to their office in Tema, Chief Technology Officer of ECL, Sybil Amoah Osafo, reiterated the firm’s readiness and continued support to ensure that healthcare is accessible to everyone regardless of their locations. She added that, “Our team will work at ensuring a reliable experience and contribute to the overall effectiveness of the mobile 3DTM initiative.”

“We are really impressed with ECL’s desire to help with this project. We are confident that ECL will be able to enhance the use cases of 3DTM and develop feature updates to improve the system and increase its use. We look forward to more collaborations with ECL”, said Microsoft Research, Technical Lead, Spencer Fowers.

To further enhance medical services to be made available to deprived communities, the team discussed the incorporation of ECL’s AI based Visual Impairment Detection Application, a machine learning module that allows for the early detection of eye conditions such as Retinopathy in diabetic patients. This collaboration highlights ECL’s commitment to investing in solutions that address African problems.

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