By Frank Kwame Abbor
Ho, Oct. 07, GNA – A six-member female engineering team from the Ho Technical University, has placed seventh among 19 universities at a Women in Engineering competition held in Ho.
The team, led by Madam Sesinam Kumako, developed an artificial intelligence-powered prototype, NephroScan GH, aimed at predicting the risk of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) using full blood count (FBC) data.
Other members of the team were; Equagoo Thomasia Tsofe, Kumi Rhodaline, Catherine Adikah, Winnifreda Mensah and Esther Ablavi Tsinyo.
Madam Kumako said the team developed the AI-powered application to help predict a person’s risk of CKD before the condition progressed to advanced stages.
She explained that the team collected data from hospitals and trained mathematical models to identify relationships and patterns among parameters contained in full blood count results.
She said the prototype was designed to use FBC parameters to predict the risk of CKD, unlike conventional approaches which may involve kidney function tests, urine tests and imaging techniques.
“We actually did an AI-powered app called NephroScan GH. The app is simply to predict your risk of CKD before it even gets to the late stages,” she said.
Madam Kumako, however, said the team faced significant challenges in obtaining sufficient data for the project because CKD patient records were not always readily available.
She said members had to spend long hours, including nights at hospitals, collecting data from CKD and non-CKD patients to train the models and establish relationships among the various parameters.
“The most tedious part of the whole project was the collection of data. Apart from that, everything went smoothly,” she said.
She said the team also encountered financial challenges during the development of the prototype but received funding and support from the university.
Madam Kumako expressed satisfaction with the team’s seventh-place finish but said they were determined to improve their performance in subsequent competitions.
“We came out seventh out of 19 universities, but we are hoping to do better next year,” she said.
The team expressed appreciation to Prof. Ben Q. Honyenuga, the Vice-Chancellor of Ho Technical University, for his support and encouragement throughout the project.
The development of NephroScan GH forms part of efforts by young engineers to apply artificial intelligence and data-driven technologies to health-related challenges in Ghana.
Meanwhile, Bougatanga Technical University emerges the overall winner of WinEAffair 2026 as a first timer with Project title: Digital flood alert system, which detects flood and then sends alerts to residents by making a sound.
The University of Development Studies placed 2nd position with a project title: Creating pavement blocks with pulse that allows rain water to pass through and be absorbed in to the ground to prevent flooding.
University of Mines and Technology, TAPA campus placed 3rd position.
GNA
Edited by Maxwell Awumah/ Christabel Addo