Organised by the Camera Culture Group, MIT Media Lab and WeSchool, go-to-market prototypes were presented at the grand finale of ReDx
The ‘ReDx-Redesigning Diagnostics’ presented by the Camera Culture Group, MIT Media Lab, US with IIT-B, Hinduja National Hospital and WeSchool successfully concluded in an ‘Open House’ at WeSchool campus in Mumbai in the presence of Vinod Tawde, Minister for Education & Culture, Government of Maharashtra and other dignitaries.
ReDx is an important initiative of WeSchool, to participate in the larger national agenda, through design of unique innovative healthcare product/ services, supporting their conversion to scalable businesses and also mentoring the entrepreneurial spirit of its young MBA students.
The ‘Open House’ inaugurated at the hands of Tawde was a showcase of the outcome of a weeklong workshop where 100 innovators from across India have been collaborating and sharing ideas across boundaries of disciplines, institutions and cultures, striving towards creating diagnostic devices to bring high quality and low cost medical solutions to millions of people. The innovative prototypes displayed how the confluence of talent, technology, finance and innovation can create better healthcare that is available to all.
A group of 16 students across diverse programmes like general management, business design, e-biz and healthcare from WeSchool had participated in ReDx under the mentorship of Prof Ramesh Raskar and his colleagues, Anshuman Das and John Werner, Camera Culture Group, MIT Media Lab, along with expert faculty from IIT-B, Hinduja Hospital and WeSchool.
Prototypes presented were:
- Stethocardiogram – A low-cost, handheld screening device for valvular heart disease
- Low-cost X-ray machine
- Vein Detection using augmented reality and oxymetric mapping
- Anterior segment ocular imaging
- iLABLEit for retinal imaging annotation
- DAAnt – an automated device for early detection and continuous monitoring of dental health
- Otoscope for visualising ears
- Cardio24 – An integrated platform that enables automated diagnosis of cardiac health
- Super Stereo – A low cost wearable modular platform for eye diagnosis
- Skinspect- A handheld device that uses spectroscopy to detect skin-lesions
- Hydrospect- Modifying a pulse oximeter to be able to quantify and access hydration monitor
- MIT Smart Toilet Initiative – Personalised health bioanalytics at home
- Sleep apnea for rest analysis and monitoring
- Skin perfusion photography – Analysing wounds, burns and other skin conditions using blood flow perfusion maps
Prof Dr Uday Salunkhe, Group Director, WeSchool said, “The collaboration between MIT Media lab and WeSchool is a milestone in our journey towards creating the future. WeSchool’s efforts at creating an ecosystem for convergence of design thinking, technology and empathy has created this wonderful platform for bringing participants from diverse streams to design these much needed healthcare diagnostic devices which will have immense innovation value and social impact in the years ahead. During ReDx, WeSchool students have helped translate potentially high impact ideas/ solutions sourced from health researchers and doctors and turned these challenges not only into working prototypes but also into executable business solutions, thereby boosting their entrepreneurial spirit that will lead to new plans, new strategies, dreams and visions.”
Tawde applauded the efforts made by all the collaborators and said, “India faces major challenges in healthcare. Today, an early diagnosis is a priority for every family and we need to provide facilities to enable them for self-care and to avoid hospitalisation. WeSchool and MIT have made a wonderful beginning, now the government must step in to take it forward. We will certainly facilitate such projects which will help create accessible and affordable healthcare solutions for the common people. The huge population of students in Maharashtra is our asset and it will compel global leaders to come to the state to fulfill the ‘Make in India’ vision.”
Prof Raskar, Associate Professor, MIT Media Lab said, “ReDx, a platform focused on Healthcare challenges, is a joint venture going on in parallel in US and India. Apart from bringing in speed, our model of innovation enables us to collaborate with students, entrepreneurs, academician, researchers and government, and this convergence translates into scale and sustainability.”
Out of these convenient, affordable, do-it-yourself devices, the most promising projects will be selected for continuing development with the goal of commercialisation in the coming year.