Last two finalists for Qualcomm Tricorder XPrize Could join forces to go to market

A bit of a mutual admiration society has developed between the two finalists in Qualcomm’s $10 million Tricorder XPRIZE competition. Whatever animus might have developed in the nearly half-decade since the contest was announced at CES 2012 has seemingly taken a back seat to an appreciation for what the other team has accomplished. Dynamical Biomarkers Group head Dr. Chung-Kang Peng casually mentioned that the two sides have discussed joining forces when it comes time to bring products to market.

The XPrize foundation has already doled out around one million in milestone prizes, helping keep teams afloat over the past few years as the original 40 teams (itself down from 300 or so who pre-registered) were whittled down to a top 10 in 2014, now down to a final two. The Xprize tricorder winner will be announced in Q2 2017.

The goal, as outlined by the foundation, is to create a real-world version of the Star Trek Tricorder, a mobile diagnostic medical device weighing less than five pounds that is capable of diagnosing at least 13 different health conditions. Of those, the following must be included: “Anemia, Atrial Fibrillation, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Diabetes, Leukocytosis, Pneumonia, Otitis Media, Sleep Apnea and Urinary Tract Infection. Beyond that, the teams had to select three others, including “HIV Screen, Hypertension, Melanoma, Shingles and Strep Throat.”

Dynamical Biomarkers Group

Dynamical Biomarkers Group has developed a system of three modules: Smart Vital-Sense Monitor; Smart Blood-Urine Test Kit; Smart Scope Module. These modules incorporated innovative hardware, technologies for physiologic signal analysis, image processing, biomarker detection. They have each been designed to allow consumers to use them in a simple and intuitive way, as they are wirelessly connected to a smartphone, which runs a user-friendly app with an intelligent and interactive screening process that guides the users to carry out specific tests to generate disease diagnosis.

Final Frontier Medical Devices

Final Frontier Medical Devices, is led by brothers Dr. Basil Harris, an emergency medicine physician, and George Harris, a network engineer.

The team created DxtER (pronounced Dexter), a tricorder prototype, for the Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE competition. DxtER is a consumer product designed to monitor your health and diagnose illnesses in the comfort of your own home. DxtER functions autonomously, but can also share important information with your healthcare providers at your discretion. 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 a collection of non-invasive sensors custom-designed to collect data about your vital signs, body chemistry, and biological functions. The diagnostic engine synthesizes your health data to make a quick and accurate assessment.