Connecting to the Star Trek Future…Now.
We live in an amazing age of technology!
So many advances have been made…in the past 100 years, past 50 years, past 5 years…even in the past year.
But sometimes, as fast as things are changing and advancing, there is talk about why we aren’t yet in the age of the Star Trek type technology…you know, the really awesome, advanced technology with ‘gadgets’ we all wish we had available.
Well, maybe that’s about to change.
The people behind the XPRIZE Foundation are hoping to inspire the real-world version of the Star Trek Tricorder to aid individual medical diagnosis, by creating a $10 Million TRICORDER XPRIZE global competition in conjunction with and sponsored by QUALCOMM Foundation’s Wireless Health group.
The mission is: Empowering Personal Healthcare
The Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE is designed to stimulate innovation and integration of precision diagnostic technologies, helping individuals make their own reliable health diagnoses anywhere, anytime. The winner of the QUALCOMM TRICORDER XPRIZE will receive $10M…but the world will get so much more out of it.
The devices are required to accurately diagnose 13 health conditions (12 diseases and the absence of conditions) – 10 required core conditions and a choice of three elective conditions – in addition to capturing five real-time health vital signs.
Too good to be true? Absolutely not! The future is now! Not only will this contest announce a winner in early 2017, but at least one device is already here!
One of our very own clients, Robert Kaul, CEO of Cloud DX, and his team joined the QUALCOMM TRICORDER XPRIZE competition to create and bring this technology to the world. They have designed and manufactured a test device called Vitaliti and it is currently in a real-world medical environment testing at a hospital in Ontario, Canada. Soon to be in your home…if all continues to go well.
The competition requires 13 health conditions, but Vitaliti goes over and above, by diagnosing 19 health conditions!
The breakdown is as follows:
10 Core conditions:
- Anemia
- Urinary Tract infection
- Type 2 Diabetes
- Atrial Fibrillation
- Sleep Apnea
- COPD
- Pneumonia
- Otitis Media
- Leukocytosis
- Absence of Conditions
3 elective conditions:
- Hypertension
- Mononucleosis
- HIV
7 additional respiratory conditions, not required or part of XPRIZE:
- Tuberculosis
- Influenza
- Asthma
- Bronchitis
- Pneumonia
- Upper Respiratory Infection
- Respiratory Syncytial Virus
The dramatic changes to healthcare that this technology offers cannot be overstated. The hopes of XPRIZE Foundation and Qulacomm through the TRICORDER competition is that, when used with other advances in the medical field, it will enable better choices in when, where, and how individuals receive medical care, making healthcare more convenient, affordable, and accessible on a global basis.
The TRICORDER XPRIZE started out attracting 330 teams around the world who applied, 4 years ago, to the far-reaching, challenging competition. Only 6 Finalists remain! And Cloud DX is one of them.
The competition is slated to end in first quarter 2017.The winner will be the team with the technology that most accurately diagnoses a set of diseases independent of a healthcare professional or facility, and that provides the best consumer user experience with its device.
May the best team win, of course, but the real winners in this contest are people around the globe! This technology will change the healthcare landscape but will also help to further develop other advances in the field…just as the XPRIZE Spacecraft $10M competition did in 2004! The innovation and inspiration of this competition will lead to much more!
We’re honoured to be working with Robert Kaul and Cloud DX as they pursue this amazing goal!