To boldly go . . . Star Trek medical device finalists named

The ten finalists have been announced in a $10 million competition inviting entrants to develop a Tricoder – a real-life medical scanner like the one featured in Star Trek.

The three and a half year project, announced last year, has asked for the creation of a wireless device capable of detecting a range of 15 medical conditions. Sponsored by the Qualcomm Foundation, the Qualcomm Tricoder X Prize asked teams to develop a consumer-focused, mobile device capable of diagnosing and interpreting a set of diseases and capturing five vital health metrics -  moving the concept of the Tricoder from science fiction to science reality.

Announced during the opening ceremony of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society International Conference, the group of finalists competing for the Qualcomm Tricorder X Prize includes a range of expertise and backgrounds, representing non-profits and academia to start-ups and established device manufacturers from six countries.

“Our selected finalists represent the most promising and innovative submissions as determined by our expert judging panel,” said Grant Campany, senior director, Qualcomm Tricorder X Prize. “We want consumers to take a more proactive approach to managing their health and having convenient access to real-time medical data will do just that. As we move to the final stage of this process, we are one step closer to putting healthcare in the palm of your hand.”

During the Qualifying Round, each team was required to submit an entry that addressed safety, user experience and a health assessment evaluation. The judging panel, comprised of various digital health and medical industry experts, reviewed 21 team submissions from nine countries and selected the 10 most credible entries.

“The technologies being created for the Qualcomm Tricorder X Prize can have an exponential, global impact, not only on remotely diagnosing diseases, but on a myriad of other medical areas, including continuous health monitoring, disease prevention and chronic disease management,” said Rick Valencia, general manager, Qualcomm Life. “It will certainly be exciting to see these devices materialise as we move closer to the competition’s end.”

As part of the Final Round, teams will compete in both diagnostic experience evaluations and consumer testing, slated for mid-to-late 2015. The final judging and awards ceremony will take place in early 2016.

Throughout the competition, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is offering regulatory input to the competing teams to help them prepare for potential FDA review post-competition.

The ten teams making it to the final round are:

Aezon, a team of student engineers from Johns Hopkins University partnering with the Centre for Bioengineering Innovation & Design.

CloudDX, a team from medical devices manufacturer

Biosign.Danvantri, a team from technology manufacturer American Megatrends.

DMI, a team of the DNA Medicine Institute partnering with NASA, the National Institutes of Health and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Dynamical Biomarkers Group, a team of physicians, scientists and engineers.

Final Frontier Medical Devices, a team led by the founders of Basil Leaf Technologies.

MESI Simplifying diagnostics, a team from diagnostic medical device manufacturer MESI.

SCANADU, a team from Silicon Valley-based start-up SCANADU.

SCANurse, a team from diagnostic medical manufacturer SCANurse.zensor, a team from clinical sensor and electrode company Intelesens.