Orascom Telecom and Mobinil have launched the Mobile Baby service, to bring mobile Dicom sonar images for remote diagnostics of pregnant women in Egypt.

The service enables healthcare providers in clinics to transfer patients' ultrasound images wirelessly to family members and referring physicians for expert advice.

Mobile Baby is initially launched in Cairo Scan, one of Egypt's major clinics, with plans to expand the service availability to clinics and hospitals across other parts of the country, including rural regions.

Mobile Baby enables medical practitioners to send ultrasound images, video clips and 3D scans to and from referring physicians for remote medical diagnostics. The application works directly from ultrasound machines, with images delivered to any mobile phone via SMS, MMS and email.

'Currently, the patient to doctor ratio in Egypt is 1 to 1,900. This disparity makes it challenging for healthcare providers to meet the healthcare needs in Egypt's rural regions, particularly pregnant women requiring pre-natal care. Mobile Baby is the first such service to be deployed in Egypt,' stated Khaled Bichara, group chief executive officer, Orascom Telecom.

'With mobile health services as part of Mobinil's strategic direction in 2012, Mobile Baby is just the start,' added Hassan Kabbani, chief executive officer of Mobinil.-TradeArabia News Service