Global Health Medical Device Compendium/EPartogram

Maternal death rates are often high in resource-poor settings because of inefficient and inaccurate labor assessment and delayed complication management. The paper partogram, although a useful tool for monitoring and assessing the progress of labor, remains cumbersome and time-consuming.

The ePartogram is an affordable, easy-to-operate, efficient and comprehensive electronic alternative to the paper partogram. It is a hand-held device that allows for more efficient recording of clinical observations, more accurate predictions of complications, and more rapid decision-making. It includes a sensor module for partial automation of data collection and a telemedicine module that allows midwives to obtain support and guidance from distant senior-level clinicians. Thus, the ePartogram supports front-line workers and brings essential services to women.

• Designed by: Jhpiego Corportion, Johns Hopkins University Center for Bio-Engineering Innovation and Design, Laerdal Global Health
• Manufacturer location: Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Lab or bench testing will take place mainly in Baltimore, MD, while field testing is likely to take place in Kenya.

Saving Lives at Birth: Grand Challenge for Development

ePartogram. (n.d.). Johns Hopkins University Center for Bioengineering Innovation and Design. Retrieved November 14, 2012 from here.

ePartogram. (2011, April 25). Tech Briefs: Create the Future Design Contest 2012. Retrieved November 14, 2012 from here.

Global: Field-Testing Electronic Lifesaving Tool for Prevention and Management of Complications during Labor. (n.d.). Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health: Center for Adolescent Health. Retrieved November 14, 2012 from here.

E-Partogram. (2012, May 16). Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development. Retrieved November 14, 2012 from here.

The Innovators—Neonatal Technologies Forum. (n.d.). National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance. Retrieved November 14, 2012 from here.