Oscar Wilde once said that life imitate art , and science and engineering is often no exception to this . Science fiction certainly put up science types with mass of inspiration for invention , including holograph , teleportation , and evensonic screwdrivers .
Star Trek ’s all - role aesculapian gadget , the Tricorder , has also inspired a clean few mass to recreate its nigh - magical ability to directly diagnose a patient . As it happens , the non - profitX - Prize Foundationwere so keen to get one invented that they start aglobal competitionto see if any mavericks would succeed .
Rather remarkably , one team has come forth victorious in their endeavor . A kinsperson - lead squad from Pennsylvania , appropriately namedFinal Frontier Medical Devices , have bagged themselves a heart of $ 2.5 million , with a 2d - place award of $ 1 million going to the Taiwan - based Dynamical Biomarkers Group .
The objective of theQualcomm Tricorder XPRIZEcompetition was to make a lightweight , non - invasive , handheld gimmick that can identify13 health conditions(12 disease , and the very absence of disease ) in 90 minute to 24 hours with no additional assistance or advocate from medical professionals . Five full of life wellness metric , like jiffy and respiratory social function , were also required to be constantly monitor .
The win team ’s twist is " more in advance " than the fancied version . XPRIZEvia YouTube
Beginning in 2012 , 10 teams originally made the cut from an original start decimal point of 312 groups from 38 countries . Two finalist were announced last December , and six total were honored at the award - giving observance in Los Angeles .
The team behind the winning purpose was headed by brothers Dr Basil Harris , an emergency doc , and George Harris , a electronic web locomotive engineer . They came up with “ DxtER , ” a twist infused with unreal intelligence , entire fund by themselves and two other siblings of theirs .
Concluding that one twist alone was not sufficient to accurately and quickly diagnose various medical condition in a patient , the squad realized that they needed to link it up to a wealth of aesculapian data .
Meet DxtER , the genuine - life Tricorder . XPRIZE
Using a custom establish AI , DxtER practice non - invasive sensors to get a baseline health report on the affected role while simultaneously comparing and contrast these state of matter with an encyclopaedia of the most cutting - edge aesculapian info from clinical database .
The AI is complex enough to be able to accurate diagnose all 13 of the need medical conditions long before the 24 - hour meter full point expires . In fact , it can diagnose 34 conditions at nowadays .
“ This Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE generate a decisive plenty of diverse and qualified squad , enabling near five years of experimentation and iteration , that ultimately ensue in an extraordinary result , ” Marcus Shingles , CEO of the XPRIZE Foundation , said in a command .
This is far from the end of the route for the Tricorder , however . The purpose of the competition was n’t just perfect curiosity , but to discover the very honorable of human ingenuity – to create a authentically revolutionary and portable aesculapian machine .
The squad behind Final Frontier , and seemingly the runner - ups , will be give funding and experts to aid advance their devices beyond the prototype phase . The Qualcomm Foundation has committed $ 3.8 million , and they have also requested a proposal for a $ 2.5 million grant for the University of California , San Diego , to help them get postulate too .
The Roddenberry Foundation will also will an additional $ 1.6 million towards the adaptation of the team ’ Tricorders for actual use of goods and services in hospitals and developing communities across the globe . A facility in Mozambique will be the first to get to use the gimmick in genuine - life-time situations .
“ Creating technology breakthrough in an industriousness as complex as health care is quite a milestone , ” Dr Paul Jacobs , executive chairwoman of Qualcomm Incorporated , noted . “ What these squad carry through is a great stepping stone to making mobile healthcare a practicable option across the public . ”
The competition ’s scale of measurement . XPRIZEvia YouTube
low-cost , portable , and easy - to - access health care gadget and equipment isall the ragethese day , and for good reason – without it , plenitude of remote position or struggle zone lacking entree to huge funding bodies would be helpless without them .
This competition has create the first versions of exactly the sort of gimmick the medical world has been crying out for . DxtER is beyond doubt a aesculapian twist that will aid the world live long and prosper .
Still , that ’s not the coolest fact about it . In the original TV serial , the Tricorderfirst appearedin the 2230s . This mean that , thanks to life imitating art , humanity has contrive one about 210 old age ahead of “ schedule ” .
The winning team . XPRIZE
