Mercy Asiedu

What if we gave women more ownership over their pelvic exam?

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About Mercy Asiedu

Mercy Asiedu, CTO and co-founder of Calla Health Foundation, received her PhD from Duke University Biomedical Engineering, with a certificate in Global Health at Dr. Nimmi Ramanujam’s Center for Global Women’s Health Technologies. At Duke, she developed the Callascope, a device that reimagines the current gynecological exam. This invention has been validated in patients at Duke University and in hospitals across Ghana, and honored through the Lemelson-MIT Graduate Student Inventor Award, Duke Health Innovation Jam Shark Tank, and the CISCO Global Problem Solver Challenge. She is a Schmidt Science Postdoctoral Research Fellow at MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Lab, working with Dr. Regina Barzilay to develop deep-learning tools for breast cancer risk assessment. After the fellowship she will join Calla Health Foundation full time to develop solutions to bridge healthcare disparities.

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About This Idea

Calla Health Foundation was born out of the Center for Global Women’s Health Technologies at Duke University. Their technology, the Callascope, employs low-light imaging technology to visualize the inner vagina and cervix, enabling people with a cervix to comfortably explore their own inner reproductive anatomy in the privacy of their homes. The Callascope is low-cost, portable, and connects to a mobile device or a tablet, replacing the traditional speculum exam that uses an expensive colposcope which acts as a barrier to healthcare in low resourced settings. Moreover, the Callascope employs a decision-making algorithm that can detect precancerous symptoms in the cervix. Through technological innovation, the Callascope disrupts barriers to healthcare, offering an alternative for people with a cervix to take charge of their own health.

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