Combatting Chronic Wounds: Elevating patient care in Nepal through open-source technology

How can we elevate life quality for patients in some of the world's most underserved regions?

Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) is a proven and efficient method for treating chronic wounds. This is particularly useful in low- and middle-income countries, where diseases like leprosy, limited healthcare, low infrastructure and poverty combine to make chronic wounds and commonality. 

Devices for treatment are costly, overly complicated and not built to serve the regions that need them the most. 

Amid frequent power cuts, Dr Suraj Mahajan and Lead Biomedical Engineer Arjan Knulst of the Green Pastures Hospital and Rehabilitation Center (part of International Nepal Fellowship), join HardwareX via connection from Nepal to share the motivation, process and intended impact of WOCA - a fully open-source NPWT device designed in close collaboration with the Delft University of Technology, and with Nepal's citizens in mind.

HardwareX is a peer-reviewed scientific journal about open-source hardware. For more info, visit HardwareX.