Cameroon's Cardiopad inventor wins prestigious African award

Cameroonian inventor Arthur Zang has won the African engineering award for his medical device that allows health-care workers to send cardiac test results to heart specialists via mobile phones.

Zang’s device, called the Cardiopad, is a digital medical touchscreen tablet that performs electrocardiogram (ECG) tests to determine the heart’s activity as well as diagnose life-threatening ailments.

Zang was awarded with the $37,000 African Engineering Award for his efforts by the UK’s Royal Academy of Engineering at a ceremony in the Tanzanian city of Dar es Salaam.

#Cameroon's #Cardiopad inventor wins #African engineering award https://t.co/cd4AEOlPAe pic.twitter.com/Zvk2pnvcAO

— HKS Innovation (@SciTechGlobal) May 27, 2016

What makes the Cardiopad particularly remarkable is that it can be used even in rural locations because it has a long battery life and can send test results to specialists using cell phones.

The Cardiopad sells for $2,000, which is significantly less than conventional electrocardiographs.

Data shows there are just 50 cardiologists in Cameroon, which has a population of 20 million people.

The device is already being sold in Gabon, India and Nepal.