Impact
Bringing Expert Care to Remote Villages
Trice launched its first major global health mission with the Mobile Ultrasound Patrol Project - a four-week initiative in rural Morocco, funded by Qualcomm Wireless Reach and supported by Fujifilm‑SonoSite and Sony in 2014. Armed with portable ultrasound devices and 3G-enabled tablets, local nurses and midwives scanned expectant mothers in three villages: Oulmes, Boulemane, and Ribat el Kheir, and transmitted the images in real time to specialists in Rabat, Casablanca, and Paris
The results were remarkable:
575 scans performed, with 94 high-risk pregnancies detected—cases that would have otherwise gone unnoticed
Diagnostic review time dropped from two weeks to under 24 hours, and costs dropped from $80 to just $2 per patient
A dramatic increase in clinician competency: from 20% to 92% diagnostic-quality scans
The Challenge: Maternal Health in Rural Morocco
Rural maternal mortality in Morocco was a critical issue - then it was 72.6 deaths per 100,000 births in regions like Khemisset. Hundreds of thousands of women lacked access to prenatal ultrasound, making critical conditions like placenta complications undiagnosed—a leading cause of preventable death.
The vision for the Mobile Ultrasound Patrol Project was clear: test whether mobile 3G ultrasound and encrypted cloud uploads could bridge these healthcare access gaps - and save lives.
The Solution: Local Scans, Global Expertise
Portable scanning with SonoSite M‑Turbo devices
Secure upload via Sony tablets and Trice’s encrypted DICOM over 3G
Remote reading by specialists hundreds of miles away
Immediate feedback to local clinicians—empowering faster decisions
Images took under one minute to reach the cloud and transmit to doctors; diagnostic time shrunk to less than 24 hours, and the cost per study dropped to a few dollars.
Real Impact: Saved Lives, Trained Clinicians, Stronger Clinics
Dr. Katof Abdelkhalek recounts a powerful moment:
“A young woman in pain—unaware she was pregnant—was found to be carrying two deceased fetuses. She was transported and received lifesaving care”
The project also elevated the skill levels of local providers, increased trust in rural health houses, and prompted more women to seek prenatal care locally - boosting facility-based deliveries.
UNFPA’s Erin Anastasi summed it up:
“We often talk about the great power of technology to transform and even save the lives of women and girls. This is a very good example of that power.”
Today’s Morocco: Telemedicine in Action
Since then, telemedicine has continued to grow. A 2023 review highlights how Morocco rolled out telehealth across 28 sites in the Marrakech‑Safi region, offering remote specialist consultations - including ultrasound - using satellite and 5G connectivity.
Remote ultrasound remains a priority, with ongoing support from the Ministry of Health and telehealth legislation enabling broader deployment and data protection.
What We Learned: And What Comes Next
The Mobile Ultrasound Patrol showed:
How mobile networks and cloud-based PACS can dramatically improve access to diagnostic expertise
That community clinicians can master ultrasound quickly with the right tools
The importance of affordable, rapid diagnostics in reducing maternal risk and increasing facility-based births
A Blueprint for Global Impact
From Morocco to mobile maternal care projects across Africa and Latin America, Trice proves that scalable, low-cost, mobile imaging can save lives anywhere.
https://www.qualcomm.com/content/dam/qcomm-martech/dm-assets/documents/mup_final_reader2_low_1.pdf