PulseCare

OFFLINE-FIRST MATERNAL & NEWBORN HEALTHTECH

Saving Mothers. Saving Newborns.

An offline-first maternal & newborn continuity-of-care platform for underserved communities Nigeria connecting pregnant women, CHWs, TBAs, and PHCs through one offline-ready system.

Try the interactive demo Download pitch deck

360

women enrolled

60

CHWs / TBAs

5

PHCs, Toro LGA

THE PROBLEM

Nigeria's maternal mortality crisis is worst where care is hardest to reach

1,047

maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in Nigeria

"A woman who attends her ANC visit in Toro LGA is more likely to deliver alone at home than with a skilled attendant and no one follows up."

Source: WHO

Low skilled birth attendance

Few deliveries are supported by trained personnel

Delayed emergency referral

Weak coordination when complications arise

Poor continuity after ANC

Women lose contact during delivery & postnatal period

Unstable power & connectivity

Rural infrastructure limits digital tools

THE SOLUTION

One offline-first platform connecting every link in the chain

CHW / TBA Mobile App

Register mothers & newborns, record visits, capture danger signs works fully offline

SMS Fallback System

Structured reports, reminders & referral alerts for areas without smartphones

Risk Classification Engine

Rules-based escalation: High / Moderate / Routine mathematically auditable

CRADLE VSA Integration

WHO-validated shock-index calculation at every PHC visit

Solar Wearable (Prototype)

Passive HR, SpO2 & temperature monitoring between visits

Referral Coordination

CHW escalation, PHC notification & LifeBank (blood & oxygen ) emergency logistics

INTERACTIVE MVP

A working prototype, not a mockup

The full clickable CHW app + PHC dashboard is a separate live artifact. Preview two of its screens below, then launch the real thing.

9:41Offline

Hadiza Musa

HIGH RISK

Severe headache Visual disturbance

Recommended action

1

Call the PHC now

2

Do not let mother travel alone

AXA Mansard Active coverage

Toro General Hospital · PHC

PulseCare Operations Dashboard

Active

6

High-risk

2

Referrals

3

CHW active

90%

Recent alerts

Hadiza Musa · Toro Ward 2

HIGH

Zainab Umar · Dott

MODERATE
Launch full interactive demo →

TECHNICAL ARCHITECTURE

Built offline-first, syncs when it can

PulseCare Technical Architecture Offline-first field layer syncs to a cloud layer whenever connectivity returns nothing on the field side depends on the internet to function. ON THE FIELD WORKS FULLY OFFLINE Solar-Powered Wearable Heart rate · SpO2 · temperature · movement passive monitoring between visits Bluetooth Low Energy pairs only during CHW visits PulseCare Mobile App React Native · Android · CHW / TBA device SMS Fallback Structured flag-codes from any feature phone no app or internet required SQLite (on-device) Local offline datastore every screen reads/writes here first Sync Engine Queues changes locally · uploads/downloads only when a connection appears SYNCS WHEN CONNECTIVITY RETURNS NO STEP ABOVE THIS LINE REQUIRES THE INTERNET CLOUD / PHC LAYER ONLINE Node.js API REST endpoints · auth · validation · reconciles offline-queued records PostgreSQL System of record patients, visits, danger signs, referrals, outcomes React PHC Dashboard Facility-level case tracking, referral queue, CHW activity, vitals trends Healthcare Providers PHC nurses · CHW coordinators · Ministry of Health reporting
Wearable → PHC Dashboard: how a reading actually travels BLE only runs during a CHW visit. Everything else can sit queued offline for days without losing data. Wearable Records HR, SpO2, temp continuously BLE Pairing CHW phone connects during a home visit PulseCare App React Native · pulls readings off the device SQLite Saved on-device immediately visit is never lost Internet available? NO Stays queued Retries automatically next time signal returns YES Node.js API Validates & reconciles queued records PostgreSQL System of record for the facility PHC Dashboard Nurse sees the case, referral, and vitals trend

CLINICAL WORKFLOW

The pathway PulseCare runs inside not on top of

The Clinical Workflow PulseCare Runs Inside Nine stages from first pregnancy contact to newborn follow-up. Digital tools sit inside an existing care pathway they don't replace any step in it. 1 Pregnancy Woman becomes pregnant, enters the community health system 2 ANC Antenatal care visit at PHC registration, first risk baseline 3 Home visit CHW/TBA visits between facility visits most contact happens here 4 Wearable sync Passive vitals (HR/SpO2/temp) pulled in via BLE during the visit 5 Risk detection Rules engine classifies HIGH / MODERATE / ROUTINE 6 Referral High/moderate cases escalated to PHC, LifeBank on standby if needed 7 Delivery Skilled attendance where possible; TBA- attended cases still tracked 8 Postnatal care 48-hour high-risk window the gap PulseCare exists to close 9 Newborn follow-up Immunisation, feeding, growth checks continue through SMS + CHW visits Where PulseCare adds a digital layer CHW / wearable contact points Automated risk classification Escalation / referral Follow-up & continuity Stages 1, 2, 7 (Pregnancy, ANC, Delivery) are existing care system steps PulseCare plugs into not new infrastructure.

HARDWARE MVP REFERENCE

From breadboard to wearable, honestly staged

Concept-stage engineering references for grant and partner review not fabrication-ready CAD or PCB files. Full caveats live in the downloadable spec sheet.

PulseCare Wearable Internal Hardware Architecture Reference block diagram for the MVP breadboard build. Concept-level not a fabrication-ready schematic or PCB layout. MICROCONTROLLER (choose one) MCU + BLE radio nRF52840 production pick lowest power, BLE-native ESP32-S3 MVP breadboard pick cheap, well-documented STM32L4 +external BLE module SENSORS I2C bus MAX30102 Pulse oximetry + HR · red/IR LED + photodetector MAX30205 / MLX90614 Body temperature · contact or non-contact option LIS3DH / ADXL345 3-axis accelerometer · movement & fall pattern shared I2C bus LOCAL STORAGE External SPI flash 16–32 MB (e.g. W25Q128) buffers readings for days between CHW visits, on top of MCU's internal flash COMMUNICATION Bluetooth Low Energy BLE 5.0 · pairs only during CHW visit · encrypted Chip / PCB trace antenna 2.4 GHz no external antenna needed → CHW phone (PulseCare app) POWER Li-Po battery 3.7 V · 400–600 mAh sized for multi-day passive monitoring Solar panel + charge IC Small panel + TP4056/CN3065 trickle-tops the battery in daylight Power management 3.3 V LDO/buck regulator + load switch for sensors Battery fuel gauge MAX17048 (I2C) reports % battery to the app Status LED + button Green / amber / red battery & sync state, no screen needed

PRODUCT STORY

A reading that actually reaches care

Product Animation Storyboard "A Reading That Reaches Care" Nine beats for an explainer video or demo reel. Simple icon-level sketches a motion/illustration team would redraw each frame, not use these as final art. 1 Wears the device Pregnant woman puts on the PulseCare wearable at home 2 Measures vitals Device passively tracks HR, SpO2, temperature between visits 3 Stores data Readings saved on-device no connection needed yet 4 CHW visits Community health worker arrives for the scheduled home visit 5 BLE sync Phone pairs with the wearable, pulls the stored readings 6 App analyses Rules engine checks readings against clinical thresholds 7 Referral generated HIGH RISK Danger signs found HIGH RISK referral created automatically 8 PHC notified ! Facility dashboard shows the incoming case before she arrives 9 Mother receives care PHC is prepared treatment starts without losing the delay window

WHO'S BUILDING THIS

A clinical + technical founding team, backed by specialist advisors

Aliyu Idris

Aliyu Idris

Co-Founder & Product Lead

Full-stack & mobile developer React, React Native, Node.js, PostgreSQL/MongoDB. Leads product strategy, mobile platform dev, backend architecture.

Zainab Sani

Zainab Sani

Co-Founder & Clinical Operations Lead

Registered nurse frontline maternal, newborn & outpatient care in Bauchi State. Leads clinical workflow design, CHW/TBA engagement, field implementation.

Hagos Abdallah Jemal

Hagos Abdallah Jemal

Hardware Engineer

First-Class Honours, Engineering, University of Jos. Leads solar wearable hardware design, PCB development & IoT sensor integration.

M. Amin Jamshidi

M. Amin Jamshidi, PhD

Biomedical & Wearable Advisor

PhD, University of Toronto. ISO 13485 / IEC 60601 expertise. Advises wearable architecture & sensor system design.

Dr. Shehu Gumau

Clinical Advisor OB/GYN

Senior Registrar, Obstetrics & Gynaecology. NPMCN Part I. Validates all danger-sign classification thresholds.

SDG ALIGNMENT

Strengthening care, where it's needed most

3

SDG 3

Good Health & Well-Being

5

SDG 5

Gender Equality

10

SDG 10

Reduced Inequalities

OUR ASK

We're asking for support to build our MVP, onboard CHWs in Toro LGA, and run our first field pilot so that by month 12, we have real-world evidence of what works, and a platform ready to scale.

REGULATORY & COMPLIANCE

A compliance roadmap, not a finished certification

PulseCare touches medical device oversight and data protection law at once. Neither is complete yet both are pre-pilot milestones, tracked honestly below rather than implied as done.

NAFDAC

PLANNED NOT YET SUBMITTED

Nigeria's medical device regulator. In 2024 NAFDAC published risk-based Medical Device Regulations plus dedicated Guidelines for Registration of Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) both apply to PulseCare.

  • •Risk engine falls under SaMD registration software that guides referral decisions needs sign-off before clinical use.
  • •Wearable hardware is regulated separately, once past prototype stage.
  • •~120 working days typical review window from a complete submission.

NDPA 2023

DPO & DPIA PLANNED

Nigeria Data Protection Act, regulated by the NDPC. Maternal & newborn health data is "sensitive personal data" a stricter legal bar than ordinary personal data.

  • •Explicit consent captured at CHW registration; processing also grounded in medical-care/public-health allowances.
  • •DPIA required for software processing sensitive data scoped, not yet filed with NDPC.
  • •72-hour breach notification to NDPC; cross-border transfer only under approved safeguards.

Expanding beyond Nigeria data privacy isn't one-size-fits-all

NDPA compliance doesn't travel automatically. Each expansion market has its own law, its own regulator, and in at least one case no comprehensive law yet.

Country Law & Regulator Status
Nigeria Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 · NDPC In force
Kenya Data Protection Act 2019 · ODPC In force
Tanzania Personal Data Protection Act 2022 In force
Ethiopia Personal Data Protection Proclamation In force (newest)
DR Congo Draft Digital Code data provisions pending Not yet enacted

Above national law: the African Union's Malabo Convention (in force since June 2023) sets continent-wide baseline principles, but doesn't substitute for a country's own law where one exists.

EXPANSION PRINCIPLE

Every new country is its own compliance project local registration, a fresh DPIA, local consent and data-residency rules never an extension of Nigerian paperwork. Where no comprehensive law exists yet, PulseCare defaults to the stricter of the Malabo Convention's baseline principles and NDPA-equivalent safeguards, rather than operating without a privacy standard until local legislation catches up.

RESOURCES

Everything for the submission, in one place