On Tuesday, 8 February 2022, nine trailblazing and innovative finalists competed in the IEEE SA Telehealth Virtual Pitch Competition hosted by IEEE SA Healthcare and Life Sciences Practice and the IEEE SA Transforming the Telehealth Paradigm Industry Connections Program. The competition officially launched the last week of November 2021 and within two short months, more than 30 submissions were received from a well-balanced mix of tech entrepreneurs, academia and commercial entities innovating the future of RPM.
The IEEE SA Telehealth Virtual Pitch Competition is designed to showcase not only the innovation in RPM systems but also solutions to ongoing challenges of trust, adoption and an overall patient-centered design healthcare system. It placed an impetus on meeting a robust set of criteria, challenging entrants to think beyond the device and position the patient at the center of the process. Criteria focused on privacy and security, adaptability and flexibility, inclusivity and accessibility, extensibility, interoperability, scalability and demonstrating compliance to regional regulatory policy (i.e. US HIPAA, EU GDPR, etc). Of the 30 submissions received, more than 70% indicated adaptability and flexibility or inclusivity, feasibility and accessibility as the main criteria for their submission category, further strengthening the point that ALL patients need to be at the center of the mobilized healthcare system.
“The range of ideas addressing health needs and improved access framed a remarkable pitch session. The pitches were professional and polished and most importantly were focused on identifying and addressing the ongoing problems with remote patient monitoring. These are very much reflected in the work of the Transforming Telehealth Paradigm Industry Connections Program.”
– Bruce Hecht, Program and Competition Co-Chair.
Making It as a Finalist Was Not an Easy Task
The finalists and winners went through a vigorous evaluation process. Going from 30 submissions to the final nine was not an easy task for the competition advisory committee. The advisory committee is made up of leading industry professionals, technologists and researchers from around the globe. The nine finalists were selected for their innovative approach to RPM and demonstration of encompassing the necessary criteria and pragmatism. The finalists had approximately eight minutes (five minutes for their presentation and three minutes for unscripted questions from the judges and the audience) to “pitch” to a live global audience as to why their innovative RPM solution addresses not only market need but the challenges creating lack of trust in adopting the tools.
The Competition Was Global in Every Sense
- Nine (9) finalists representing six (6) countries.
- More than 106 countries represented in the live pitch competition audience profiles
- Technologies encompassed everything from hardware, software and telemetry
- Therapeutic and application areas ranged from chronic and musculoskeletal conditions, post-operative care and caregiver support, environmental safety and more.
Congratulations to the Winners
“The competition was very tight, arriving to the final winners was not easy. We were pleasantly surprised by the different types of RPM services, quality of the pitches, and emphasis on human factor design. All of the competition entrants can contribute greatly to some of the projects instantiated by the global community in Transforming the Telehealth Paradigm Industry Connections Program.”
– Narendra Mangra, Program and Competition Co-Chair
1st Place – Student
Multi-Purpose Health Monitoring Bracelet
The MHMB (Multi-Purpose Health Monitoring Bracelet) is capable of measuring heart rate, skin temperature, blood pressure, blood oxygen saturation (SpO2) and patient mobility with sufficient accuracy to make clinical judgments.
Submitted by: Pramuka Sooriyapatabandige, Undergraduate Student, Faculty of Engineering, University of Jaffna – SRI LANKA
1st Place – Entity
Rubitect Assessment System
Rubitect™ Assessment System (RAS) solves an $11 billion problem by providing caregivers with a low cost reliable early detection tool for bedsores and skin health assessment.
Submitted by: Sanna Gaspard, Founder & CEO, Rubitection – USA
2nd Place – Entity
Wearable Devices for Remote, Direct Physical Therapy Application & Monitoring
The IMU/joint modeling scheme that enables gait-synchronous stim also enables high-resolution joint kinematic feedback to ascertain patient compliance and/or progress.
Submitted by: Josh Rabinowitz, Co-Founder & CEO, Articulate Labs – USA
3rd Place – Entity
AsthmaGo
AsthmaGo is a HIPAA-compliant asthma RPM solution that consists of smart home-use medical devices, a mobile APP, and a physician dashboard.
Submitted by: JC Ren, Assistant President, CMI Health, Inc. – USA
Recognition of the Finalists
Neurobell.AI: Neurobell.AI is a fast, accurate, scalable, low power, low cost, adaptable and interoperable solution for EEG analysis for seizures through AI Assisted Sonification of EEG.
Submitted by: Dr. Emanuel Mihai Popovici, Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University College Cork – IRELAND
Sentinel: Sentinel uses patented intelligent guardian technology and commercially available wearables to protect individuals in risk-laden environments.
Submitted by: Zachary Kiehl, CEO & Co-Founder, Sentinel – USA
Aceso Care Ecosystem: Aceso Care Ecosystem is an interoperable care management ecosystem for remote chronic patient monitoring through data aggregation.
Submitted by: Dimitris Koutsomichalis, Co-Founder & CEO, Verality Digital Healthcare – CYPRUS
DeepAffex: NuraLogix has developed a software medical device that can measure a wide variety of physiological and psychological parameters using a camera on a smart device or computer.
Submitted by: Ed Ellsworth, B.Sc., M.Sc., Director Global Regulatory Affairs, Nuralogix Corporation – CANADA
Ōmcare: Ōmcare is a digital, customizable, home health platform that allows healthcare organizations to extend care into the home via a secure telehealth infrastructure and integration with our patented medication dispensing technology.
Submitted by: Lisa Lavin, Founder & CEO, Ōmcare – USA
The IEEE SA Telehealth Virtual Pitch Competition will open for new submissions later in 2022. Stay tuned to hear from the winners in upcoming podcasts, webinars, article contributions and more. Learn more about the IEEE SA Transforming the Telehealth Paradigm Industry Connections Program.
