Kahol told Quartz India.

Results can be printed immediately on the device’s portable thermal printer or another Android-compatible printer, and sent to patients via SMS, phone calls, and emails. The system works in four languages common in India, translating questions into the patient’s language. The system, which can be updated remotely, gives real-time usage information to managers. Frontline health workers in remote locations can leave messages, ask questions, and provide answers in a moderated forum via the device. Workers at a call center can contact the users to ask for feedback, solve technology issues and provide basic support. This allows for continuous professional development and increased use and data reporting, according to the public health foundation. LionsGate Technologies, a start up based in Vancouver, has developed a similar device specifically targeting a patient base comprised of pregnant women, newborns and children in the developing world.

Sometimes developing world innovations end up being of use in wealthier nations. Through its acquisition of St. Paul-based Corventis, Medtronic plans to bring a heart-failure monitoring patch first used in India to the developed market around the end of 2014 or early 2015, for example. Access to diagnostics is limited in India, but cellular networks are widespread. India has 0.7 physicians per 1000 people, compared with 2.5 in the United States and 1.9 in China, according to the World Bank.