Winner of Qualcomm Tricorder XPrize Unveiled at AACC

The 10 million USD global competition, which was announced in 2012, challenged 34 research teams to produce a lightweight device (a "tricorder") that consumers could have at their fingertips to diagnose a health condition or monitor their vital signs without the need to consult a medical professional. To qualify the device had to be capable of diagnosing at least 13 health conditions and continuously monitoring five vital signs, all with a consumer-friendly interface and weighing no more than five pounds (2.27 kilograms).

In the science-fictional Star Trek universe, a tricorder was a multifunction hand-held device used for sensor scanning, data analysis, and recording data. The standard tricorder was a general-purpose device used primarily to scout unfamiliar areas, make detailed examination of living things, and record and review technical data. The medical tricorder was used by doctors to help diagnose diseases and collect bodily information about a patient; the key difference between this and a standard tricorder was a detachable hand-held high-resolution scanner stored in a compartment of the tricorder when not in use.

The winner of the top prize of 2.6 million USD was Final Frontier Medical Devices, a Pennsylvania-based team led by Dr. Basil Harris, an emergency medicine physician, and his brother George Harris, a network engineer, for their artificial intelligence-based engine, DxtER, which learns to diagnose medical conditions by integrating learnings from clinical emergency medicine with data analysis from actual patients.

DxtER was designed to monitor the individual's health and diagnose illnesses away from the hospital or doctor's office setting. DxtER functions autonomously, but can also share important information with healthcare providers. At the heart of DxtER is an artificially intelligent engine that learned to diagnose by integrating years of experience in clinical emergency medicine with data analysis from actual patients having a variety of medical conditions and outcomes. Included with DxtER is an assortment of non-invasive sensors custom-designed to collect data about vital signs, body chemistry, and biological functions. The diagnostic engine synthesizes the health data to make a quick and accurate assessment.

Dynamical Biomarkers Group was awarded the second place in the Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE competition for their prototype, which links diagnostic algorithms with analytical methodology in a user-friendly device, all controlled through a smartphone.

Final Frontier Medical Devices team member Philip Charron and Dynamical Biomarkers Group team member Dr. Chung-Kang Peng will describe their revolutionary technologies in a major session at the 69th AACC Annual Scientific Meeting.

Related Links:
AACC Annual Scientific Meeting & Clinical Lab Expo
Qualcomm Tricorder XPrize