Cutting-edge technology to improve the country’s healthcare system

PhD candidate students Sipho Chauke, Phumulani Mcoyi and Nkgaphe Tsebesebe with Collaborative Robots, human centred automations used for training and production. Picture: Jacques Naude/African News Agency (ANA)

PhD candidate students Sipho Chauke, Phumulani Mcoyi and Nkgaphe Tsebesebe with Collaborative Robots, human centred automations used for training and production. Picture: Jacques Naude/African News Agency (ANA)

Published Jul 3, 2023

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Pretoria - The CSIR has hosted a hybrid media briefing at which young experts briefed the media on various cutting-edge technologies that they are developing to improve South Africa’s healthcare system using fourth industrial revolution (4IR) technologies.

The 4IR has had a considerable impact on the manufacturing industry, which has encouraged a surge in the automation of medical diagnostics, led by artificial intelligence and the internet of medical things.

The briefing showcased some of the breakthrough 4IR innovations aimed at improving South Africa’s healthcare system.

These included machine learning-powered diagnostics, which is a technology that aims to reduce the prevalence of communicable diseases in African communities and the localised surface plasmon resonance system used in point-of-care settings to eliminate the need for timeous laboratory testing,

Mihlali Tapi, electronics technologies researcher, demonstrates the 4IR production training cells at the Master Learning Factory, CSIR. Picture: Jacques Naude/African News Agency (ANA)

Also included was optical-based biosensor for the detection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a device designed to assist healthcare systems in remote locations.

The briefing will include a tour of the CSIR Learning Factory to showcase various artificial intelligence technologies, as well as highlight how the facility is supporting the skills development of young people by exposing them to working environments in which 4IR technologies have been employed.

Candidate industrial engineer Derryn Wenhold at the Augmented Reality station at the CSIR. Picture: Jacques Naude/African News Agency (ANA)

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