Arthur Zang gets a special grant of 20 million FCfa

The minister of Scientific Research and Innovation, Madeleine Tchuinté, delivered on Thursday a special innovation award from the head of State with a value of 20 million CFA francs (40,000 dollars) to Marc Arthur Zang Adzaba, a young researcher and inventor of a medical touch Tablet called Cardiopad, designed for cardiac patients.

This device, which was released in 2011 under the label Himore Medical S.A. company, created by its designer, is the first of its kind made in Africa. "It allows cardiac exams to be conducted and diagnosis made remotely using information and communication technologies," stressed the Minister of scientific research and Innovation.

According to Marc Arthur Zang himself, who turned 28 in November, "the Cardiopad works in a very simple way. When a patient arrives at a hospital in a district (outside the big cities) where there is no cardiologist, because we have about 50 cardiologists to more than 20 million inhabitants, thanks to this unit the patient can be examined. Data obtained from the patient are transmitted from the village to the city thanks to a connection via the mobile phone network," he said to the press.

"So the cardiologist who is in town receives data from the patient, interprets from his Cardiopad and transmit these interpretations of his Cardiopad to the nurse in the village who carried out examinations on the patient."

subsequently, the medical touch pad gives the opportunity to cardiac patients to consult without having to move to a large urban centre.

A grant of 10 million CFA francs (20,000 dollars) granted by the Ministry of public health allowed the production of a hundred copies of the device in China.

The Mbankomo health district hospital, a suburb in Yaounde, and the University of Yaoundé (CHUY) and Hospital Centre are the only institutions using this device at the moment. "Thanks to it, we have already examined many people who suffer from cardiovascular disease and hope that we will build on this momentum," also details the young inventor.

The computer designing engineer and a researcher in biomedical engineering graduated from l'Ecole nationale supérieure polytechnique (ENSP) Yaoundé. Marc Arthur Zang Adzaba, also creator of many softwares, is the first winner of the special award of the head of State.

In addition to this ceremony, he also received the distinction of chevalier of the order of the value. According to the Minister of scientific research and Innovation, this award was established for young researchers "for mastery of the science, technology and innovation to make an economic impact in the creation of wealth and jobs as well as the promotion of sustainable development in Cameroon".

"Through this award, we can import all the components and assemble them here in Yaoundé. Of course, we target the international market but for the moment, the Cameroonian market is first our core market," assured the young inventor to Xinhua.

He is known at the international level, where he presented his device at major conferences including Lund University in Sweden, the headquarters of The Guardian newspaper in London and the European Centre for nuclear research (CERN).

Winner of the Rolex 2014 prize, Marc Arthur Zang Adzaba was also nominated among the 10 best most talented innovators in Africa the same year.

He continued his research in electronic systems at the École nationale supérieure polytechnique and a program of distance education provided by the Indian Government.