KOFORIDUA: Charles Owusu Aseku has traveled across Ghana and beyond in search of care for the large growth of tissue called a keloid on his neck since 2002. The 46-year-old was growing increasingly frustrated after two unsuccessful surgeries and a trip to South Africa that ended with just a consultation.
Aseku was preparing for yet another medical trip until late February when he joined others in the first trial of 3D telemedicine technology in Ghana powered through computer screens in the back of a van.
Those behind the initiative, developed by Microsoft’s research team in partnership with local doctors and researchers, say the remote assessment will help provide medical consultations for patients awaiting surgery or after an operation, in a region where the doctor-to-patient ratio is among the lowest in the world.
The project builds on earlier trials in Scotland and now works as a portable system with enhanced lighting and camera upgrades.
Once inside the van, cameras will capture a 3D model of each patient and the image is then projected onto a large computer screen. Multiple doctors can join the consultation session online and manipulate the 3D model to assess the patient.
“The idea behind the van is to allow it to travel to those remote villages that don’t have specialized care ... to perform a pre or post-surgical consult,” said Spencer Fowers, principal software developer and 3D-telemedicine project lead at Microsoft Research.
The initiative also gives patients the opportunity to have multiple opinions. Aseku’s session had doctors from Rwanda, Scotland and Brazil, an experience that he said gave him hope.
“I see a lot of doctors here and I am very happy because experience will come from each of them and maybe they will find a solution to my problem,” the 46-year-old said.
Researchers hope the trial at the Koforidua Regional Hospital, in Ghana’s eastern region, is the start of a wider project that could expand the service and explore new use cases.
Recent years have seen growing use of telemedicine, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. Experts say such digital tools can benefit patients in Africa the most because there are so few specialist doctors for the continent’s 1.4 billion people.
George Opoku, 68, was referred to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in the capital Accra — nearly 100 kilometers away from the Koforidua hospital, which is much closer to his home — where he had first gone to seek care for sarcoma, a rare form of cancer that develops in the bones and soft tissues.
Upon hearing about the 3D telemedicine trial, his doctor decided to register him for the process, saving him the extra expenses and stress of long-distance travel.
“This time I had to sit in a van and to introduce myself and condition to not only one doctor but several of them. I was able to answer all their questions and I am hopeful that they will discuss and cure me of my condition,” Opku said. “I feel well already and I am hopeful.”
A key challenge for the project is the lack of stable Internet access, a common problem in remote parts of Africa.
At the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, the technology is helping patients in need of plastic surgery. An inadequate number of plastic surgeons means that patients often have to consult with different doctors during each visit.
Dr. Kwame Darko, consultant plastic surgeon at the hospital and one of the principal investigators on the project, said that 3D telemedicine could give patients the chance to be seen by multiple doctors during one session.
The 3D technology could make a difference if replicated in Ghana and elsewhere, according to Dr. Ahensan Dasebre, chief resident doctor at the National Reconstructive Plastic Surgery and Burns Center at Korle-Bu, who was not part of the project.
“We are already behind in terms of how many doctors are available to care for a certain number of the population,” he said.
“If somebody is in a remote part of town where he doesn’t have access to these specialized services, but needs it, the referring doctor could actually use this telemedicine thing to get access to the best of care.”
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New 3D technology could soon bring surgeons closer to patients in Africa’s most remote regions
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New 3D technology could soon bring surgeons closer to patients in Africa’s most remote regions
- A groundbreaking initiative could soon be bringing surgeons closer to patients in Africa’s remote corners
- The way it works is patients enter the van where cameras capture their 3D image
Hillary Clinton to testify in US House panel’s Jeffrey Epstein probe
- The Clintons had initially rejected subpoenas ordering them to testify in the panel’s probe
- But they eventually agreed to do so after being threatened of contempt by House Republicans
NEW YORK: Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton is to testify behind closed doors Thursday before a congressional committee investigating the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell.
Former president Bill Clinton is scheduled to answer questions the following day from the Republican-led House Oversight Committee about his relations with Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial.
The Clintons had initially rejected subpoenas ordering them to testify in the panel’s probe, but the Democratic power couple eventually agreed to do so after House Republicans threatened to hold them in contempt of Congress.
Democrats say the investigation is being weaponized to attack political opponents of Republican President Donald Trump — himself a former Epstein associate who has not been called to testify — rather than to conduct legitimate oversight.
Trump and Bill Clinton, both 79, feature prominently in the recently released trove of government documents related to Epstein, but have each said they broke ties with the financier before his 2008 conviction in Florida as a sex offender. Mere mention in the files is not proof of having committed a crime.
The Clintons called for their depositions to be public but the committee insisted on questioning them behind closed doors, a move Bill Clinton denounced as “pure politics” and akin to a “kangaroo court.”
“If they want answers, let’s stop the games & do this the right way: in a public hearing, where the American people can see for themselves what this is really about,” the former Democratic president said on X.
Hillary Clinton, 78, who lost the 2016 presidential election to Trump, said in an interview with the BBC last week that she and her husband “have nothing to hide.”
She met Maxwell “on a few occasions,” she said, but never had any meaningful interactions with Epstein.
Republicans are trying to deflect attention away from Trump by having them testify, she said.
“Look at this shiny object. We’re going to have the Clintons, even Hillary Clinton, who never met the guy,” she said.
The depositions are being held in Chappaqua, New York, where the Clintons reside.
Clemency
Bill Clinton has acknowledged flying on Epstein’s plane several times in the early 2000s for Clinton Foundation-related humanitarian work, but said he never visited Epstein’s private Caribbean island.
Ghislaine Maxwell, 64, is the only person who has been convicted of a crime in connection with late financier.
The former socialite is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking.
She appeared via video-link before the House Oversight Committee earlier this month but refused to answer any questions, invoking her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself.
Her attorney, David Markus, said Maxwell would be prepared to speak publicly if granted clemency by Trump.
Markus also said that Trump and Bill Clinton are “innocent of any wrongdoing.”
“Ms Maxwell alone can explain why, and the public is entitled to that explanation,” he said.
Epstein cultivated a network of powerful business executives, politicians, celebrities and academics and the release of the Epstein files has had repercussions around the globe including the arrests in Britain of former prince Andrew and Peter Mandelson, the ex-ambassador to the United States.
A number of prominent Americans have had their reputations damaged by their friendships with Epstein and have resigned their positions, but no one other than Maxwell has faced legal consequences.
Former president Bill Clinton is scheduled to answer questions the following day from the Republican-led House Oversight Committee about his relations with Epstein, who died in a New York jail cell in 2019 while awaiting trial.
The Clintons had initially rejected subpoenas ordering them to testify in the panel’s probe, but the Democratic power couple eventually agreed to do so after House Republicans threatened to hold them in contempt of Congress.
Democrats say the investigation is being weaponized to attack political opponents of Republican President Donald Trump — himself a former Epstein associate who has not been called to testify — rather than to conduct legitimate oversight.
Trump and Bill Clinton, both 79, feature prominently in the recently released trove of government documents related to Epstein, but have each said they broke ties with the financier before his 2008 conviction in Florida as a sex offender. Mere mention in the files is not proof of having committed a crime.
The Clintons called for their depositions to be public but the committee insisted on questioning them behind closed doors, a move Bill Clinton denounced as “pure politics” and akin to a “kangaroo court.”
“If they want answers, let’s stop the games & do this the right way: in a public hearing, where the American people can see for themselves what this is really about,” the former Democratic president said on X.
Hillary Clinton, 78, who lost the 2016 presidential election to Trump, said in an interview with the BBC last week that she and her husband “have nothing to hide.”
She met Maxwell “on a few occasions,” she said, but never had any meaningful interactions with Epstein.
Republicans are trying to deflect attention away from Trump by having them testify, she said.
“Look at this shiny object. We’re going to have the Clintons, even Hillary Clinton, who never met the guy,” she said.
The depositions are being held in Chappaqua, New York, where the Clintons reside.
Clemency
Bill Clinton has acknowledged flying on Epstein’s plane several times in the early 2000s for Clinton Foundation-related humanitarian work, but said he never visited Epstein’s private Caribbean island.
Ghislaine Maxwell, 64, is the only person who has been convicted of a crime in connection with late financier.
The former socialite is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking.
She appeared via video-link before the House Oversight Committee earlier this month but refused to answer any questions, invoking her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself.
Her attorney, David Markus, said Maxwell would be prepared to speak publicly if granted clemency by Trump.
Markus also said that Trump and Bill Clinton are “innocent of any wrongdoing.”
“Ms Maxwell alone can explain why, and the public is entitled to that explanation,” he said.
Epstein cultivated a network of powerful business executives, politicians, celebrities and academics and the release of the Epstein files has had repercussions around the globe including the arrests in Britain of former prince Andrew and Peter Mandelson, the ex-ambassador to the United States.
A number of prominent Americans have had their reputations damaged by their friendships with Epstein and have resigned their positions, but no one other than Maxwell has faced legal consequences.
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