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Overview of Current DtM Projects

Kinkajou® Microfilm Projector and Portable Library
One in five adults worldwide does not know how to read. In rural regions of West Africa, up to 75% of the population is illiterate. According to Barbara Garner of World Education, “It’s the lack of resources”—specifically access to books and lighting—rather than a lack of interest in education that contributes to illiteracy rates.

To solve this problem, DtM designed a rugged, lightweight, low-power projection system, which uses a microfilm cassette to store 10,000 pages of information at a fraction of the cost of paper books. In 2004, with funding from USAID, World Education implemented Kinkajou Projectors in literacy centers in 45 Malian villages. To date, over 3,000 adults have learned to read using these projectors.

Improved Intravenous Drip Flow Controller
In the hospitals of the developing world, family members with no medical training typically replace nurses for bedside care, and the simple intravenous (IV) drip tube and clamp represent state-of-the-art technology in flow control for drug delivery. It takes practice to achieve accurate flow rate settings with this device, and errors can be deadly.

At the start of this project, DtM explored opportunities to create a more user-friendly and intuitive means to control IV drip flow rate, as part of our very first design studio course at MIT. In May 2005, three patents were issued to MIT on the work performed by DtM in the area of improved IV drip flow monitoring and control. In August 2005, DtM launched a collaboration with New Zealand-based NGO Medicine Mondiale to determine the key clinical design inputs for an improved IV flow controller. This included funding clinical surveys in America, Asia and Africa. Based on these insights, Medicine Mondiale created the the Acuset IV flow controller. The Acuset controller completed clinical trials in 2007, and volume production will begin in 2008. Medicine Mondiale's Acuset controller has the potential to improve drug delivery and palliative care, and to save lives, throughout the developing world.

Low-Cost Infant Incubator and Isolation Unit
Every year over four million infants in the developing world die within a month of birth. Infants born with complications--including prematurity, low birth weight and illness--need a warm and clean environment in which to get better. In developing countries, not only is there limited access to modern, high-tech incubators, but a lack of infrastructure and replacement parts render such devices worthless.

The goal of this new incubator project is to develop a functioning prototype of a low-cost incubator and isolation unit for infant care in developing countries. Our project partners are Medicine Mondiale and the Kanti Children’s Hospital in Nepal. We will begin field testing of the first incubator prototype in August 2007.

Tools for Self-Directed Learning
Nationwide, the student-to-teacher ratio in Bangladesh is 63:1, among the worst in Asia, and 36% of Bangladeshi children never finish primary school. DtM's project partner, the Centre for Mass Education in Science (CMES), seeks to change these statistics. Students leave the five-year CMES program with the education, job skills and self-confidence necessary to become productive members of their local community. CMES is a UNESCO "partner for research," and over the last 27 years their work has had a significant impact on pedagogical methods across South Asia.

The goal of our collaboration is to enhance CMES's impact by enabling them to reach more students with fewer teaching resources. Our specific objective is to develop a low-cost, context-appropriate learning tool that will allow students to proceed with their studies as a supplement to, or even independent of, direct interaction with a teacher.

Smart Cards for Microcredit
Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank (Mann Deshi Bank) is a licensed cooperative bank in Maharashtra run “by and for women.” Founded in 1997 by Ashoka Fellow Chetna Gala Sinha, Mann Deshi Bank specializes in micro-loans as seed funding for women entrepreneurs in rural communities. Mann Deshi Bank has expanded its total assets by fifty times over the last nine years, and now serves 50,000 women through seven bank branches. Their goal is to expand to 250,000 clients over the next five years.

To grow at scale, the bank needs to improve the security, accuracy and efficiency of the system by which they track and disburse loans. Mann Deshi Bank seeks to apply smart card technology into its banking infrastructure, as a substitute for paper passbook and manual data entry. “Smart card” is a generic term for any pocket-sized card with embedded integrated circuits that allow for electronic data storage. DtM has partnered with Mann Deshi Bank to research and implement “smart card” technology to address these issues.