Frugal Science Innovations: Promising Tools for Education and Healthcare

Abstract

In recent years, emphasis is being given to frugal affordable and sustainable innovations. This article advocates the potential of frugal products characterised with robust product functionality especially in low resource settings in the healthcare and education sectors so that benefits of science can reach the masses. Frugal innovation does not mean compromising the quality, but it is to be able to apply science to get the desirable result in the given conditions. The article discusses some recent innovative frugal products and their comparisons to conventionally used technologies. It elaborates on two innovations, Foldscope and Paperfuge which are frugal alternatives to microscope and centrifuge respectively with potential applications in diagnostics, research, and education especially in developing economies.

Foldscope microscope, an inexpensive alternative tool to conventional microscopy—Applications in research and education: A review

“…Portable microscopes are extremely useful for field visits in cases where materials are hazardous or face difficulties in logistics toward lab-based microscopes. The lab-based microscopes are expensive and unwieldy pieces of equipment (Joshi & Bhosale, 2018), which are normally maintained in special areas for use (Mohan et al, 2021;Raghavamma, 2019). A decent microscope warrants special attention owing to its complexity and cost.…”