…Invents monitor, light concept
From OKEY SAMPSON, Aba
Chidi Ohagi from Isuochi in Umunneochi Local Government was like a secondary school leaver the day this reporter met him in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State.
He had invented some products but no one seems to know. Intuitively, he began a tireless search for the Aba office of The Sun, the newspaper he believes would tell the story of his feat in the medical field and show him to the world.
Effusive Ohagi without any scholastic blue blood running in his veins treaded where the most effervescent scholars feared to go.
Out of sheer providence and hard work coupled with dent of positive stubbornness, he tackled the challenges on his way head-on to brace the tape of a trail blazer.
Ohagi attended Isuochi Central School for his primary education before proceeding to Isuochi Secondary School and later to Okija Grammar School in Anambra State for his school certificate examination.
That was Ohagi’s zenith in the wild firmament of formal education. However, what he lacked in paper qualification he has stoically made up in his breathe taking inventions that would take Nigeria out of its technological doldrums and properly place her among the comity of technological nations.
The thinking that Ohagi is just a secondary school leaver, interviewing him on his inventions was fun itself as he with dexterity dazzled technological terminologies oiled in flawless English; which makes one begin to ask if he actually did not see the four walls of the university.
Ohagi first came up with an invention in the medical field he called “Cohagi Intravenous Monitor” (CIM) and later invented a light concept he called “Cohagi Ever Light”. Names of his inventions were taken from his own name, Chidi Ohagi.
Aim of CIM invention
Explaining why he invented the Cohagi Intravenous Monitor, Ohagi said: “The invention seeks to address certain anomalies I observed in hospitals wards where I have been severally admitted. I observed that during the process of infusion certain activity comes up. For example, when the infusion bottles gets empty without the attention of the medics the blood of the patient starts moving up through the line of the infusion administering tube. Medically there is no known hazard associated with this incident but the psychological hazard it might cause prompted me to create this monitor”.
Despite the fact that there was no known hazard associated with blood moving up through the line of the infusion administering tube when the drip water finishes, however, Ohagi said he had witnessed a situation where a patient slapped a nurse for allowing his blood to go up the line.
It was to avoid this that the Abia State-born scientist invented CIM which will help medics monitor the process of the infusion and duly alerts them when it was done.
Other functions of CIM
Besides monitoring the infusion process in a patient, the invention, according the 41-year-old inventor, detects when the line of an infusion vies off from the vein of the patient.
“When blood clots on the tip of the needle the invention identifies it as a line blockage, it acts accordingly. Again, if the patient’s temperature goes higher or lowers than normal the monitor alerts the medics. Most importantly, this monitor aids a weak patient to call for assistance when the patient needs attention.
Evolution of the invention
Although it is on record that most inventors of old and in some cases of present never had formal education, yet it beats one’s imagination that in Nigeria where hard work had gone to the dogs paving way for mad rush for easy money, a young secondary school leaver whose quest for further education was truncated by lack of money came up with an invention that has become a very big challenge to the world.
How was Ohagi despite his limited education able to invent the CIM?
Hear him: “Well, naturally I’m gifted. Also as a child I was extra ordinary, I found myself creating something out of nothing. Although I was not able to study in the higher institution, but later I came in contact with Cleaveman Institute of Electronics, Ohio in United States of America and they offered me admission to study Electronic System Engineering. The institute is not concerned with grades an applicant makes but they solely depend on the interest of the applicant to study Engineering. It was not easy for me to study in the institute due to lack of finance, I could not pay my fees so I dropped out. Later, I joined Radio Netherland because they were running a short technical programme. So, that was how I started.
Idea for this invention
The invention of the CIM was out of necessity. Ohagi told a story of how in 2011 he travelled for the first time to New Delhi, India to make contacts with certain companies that will help him develop his inventions. While there, the inventor whose product is going through some analysis in the United States of America had a growth on his right eye and so decided to visit a hospital in New Delhi for a surgery.
“After the surgery I was in a recovery ward. I opened my eye to see one other patient who was moaning, I discovered that he was going through an infusion process, I didn’t know that his infusion has ended and there was no medic to check on him and the man was frightened as he watched his blood moving up the line. I had to alert the nurses through a button close to my bed so they can check the man. When I was discharged I had to make a research for any equipment that will help alert the medics whenever an infusion process ends. So, when I got back to my hotel, I thought about that invention, so I visited the biggest electronics market in New Delhi to pick up equipment I needed to create this monitor”.
Components for CIM, its guarantee
He said many components were involved in putting together the CIM which is fully digitalized and took him four years to develop.
Ohagi, however, said that one of the primary components he used was load sensor which he said cannot be found in Nigeria.
He assured that CIM was a durable concept which guarantee is based on the user’s ability to handle carefully without crashing it.
Appeal
Despite this noble feat, CIM is yet to be mass produced because of financial constraints, making him to appeal to both his state and Federal governments to give him financial assistance for the mass production of the product which cost he put at about N153 million.
Cohagi Everlight
Also on Ohagi’s invention menu is a light concept he called, “Cohagi Everlight”. According to Ohagi, “Ever light as the name goes implies that there should be light always. In our society, one of the things that bring development is power. It is a device that produces light. When there is power outage the Cohagi Ever light automatically comes on and starts to supply light to any environment it is brought into”.
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