We have heard about campers, kitchens and even tiny houses that slot in pickup truck beds, however the PreCare system is decidedly extra altruistic. It is a truck-bed-based popup healthcare heart, designed to serve distant and impoverished communities.
Adaptable to totally different makes and fashions of pickup vehicles, the modular setup is being developed by a workforce from Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute for Floor Engineering and Skinny Movies, the Fraunhofer Institute for Photo voltaic Vitality Programs, and Stellenbosch College.
When not in use, the equipment folds down to sit down in and above the again of the truck. It stays securely in place, even because the automobile traverses the lengthy stretches of tough roads that sometimes hyperlink distant villages in underserved areas similar to Sub-Saharan Africa. These communities typically lack clinics or healthcare professionals of their very own.
Fraunhofer IST
Upon reaching their vacation spot, the PreCare workforce shortly deploy the system by folding it out to the edges. The entire thing can reportedly be operated by only one driver and one healthcare skilled. Amongst different issues, it may be used to carry out pre-clinical examinations, checkups, checks, and vaccinations.
A few of the onboard tools features a fridge (for samples and drugs), water purification system, and disinfectant manufacturing module. There’s additionally a satellite-linked laptop computer which permits customers to seek the advice of with remotely positioned physicians, as they study sufferers through Bluetooth-linked units similar to blood stress screens, ECGs, cell ultrasound models, and X-ray tools.
Energy is offered by a battery financial institution which is linked to an array of photovoltaic panels.
Fraunhofer IST / Lothar Schäfer
The primary PreCare prototype was examined by a non-profit group over a nine-month interval in 2023, within the South African neighborhood of Daantjie. Roughly 120 residents utilized the system every month for quite a lot of functions, though it was getting used primarily for HIV testing.
A non-governmental group started working a second prototype in April 2024, as a part of a program for the early detection and prevention of cervical most cancers in Namibia. Manufacturing, gross sales and upkeep are actually being dealt with by Fraunhofer spinoff firm S Mile Options, positioned in South Africa.
“PreCare places healthcare inside attain for everybody, in every single place,” says mission chief Frank Neumann.
Medical Care — Well being Platform for Pickup Vehicles | Improvements for a Higher Future award 2025
Supply: Fraunhofer
