Kwame Boateng

Ghanaian inventor revolutionizing healthcare through affordable medical devices

Kwame Boateng is a biomedical engineer from Accra, Ghana, whose low-cost medical innovations are transforming healthcare access across Africa. His 2020 startup MedInnovate developed the Tele-Scan, a $200 portable ultrasound device that connects to smartphones - 90% cheaper than traditional models. By 2023, these devices had provided over 500,000 diagnostic scans in 15 African countries.

Boateng's 2022 breakthrough was the MalariaScope, a paper-based test strip that detects malaria in 10 minutes using saliva samples. This innovation won the $500,000 Grand Challenges Canada Prize and is now distributed through UNICEF's African health programs. His team's 2024 project, AfricaDiagnosis, created a solar-powered mobile lab unit that brings full diagnostic services to remote villages.

Boateng's TED Talk "Democratizing Diagnosis" (2023) has 3.4 million views. His collaboration with MIT's Global Health Initiative produced the e-Neonatal incubator costing 1/10th of standard models. TIME Magazine included him in their 2024 list of 100 Most Influential People for "reimagining healthcare equity".