This year’s Tech Factor Challenge looks for novel solutions that enhance the safety, health, and mobility of elderly

Singapore Technologies Electronics Limited (ST Electronics) and SPRING Singapore today announced the four grand prize winners of the Tech Factor Challenge 2016/2017.

Taking the theme of “Ageing-in-Place,” this year’s edition looks for novel solutions that enhance the safety, health, and mobility of elderly.

Participants were tasked to develop technologies that enable home-based and long-term community care for the elderly in two categories: Smart H2 (Home and Health) Challenge (applications for safety, health and wellness management) and Mobility Challenge (improving mobility for the elderly).

The annual competition chose ageing as its theme this year as a response to Singapore’s transition to a “super-aged nation” and the increasing demand for healthcare services and resources for “ageing well in place.”

The competition awarded a total of S$300,000 (US$220,000) and each team is set to receive S$25,000 (US$18,300), a third of total cash prize. The remaining cash prize will be awarded to the teams upon the successful commercialisation of their solutions.

The following is the list of the grand prize winners:

Team: TIIM Healthcare Pte Ltd
Solution: Intelligent Portable System- Risk Stratification in Patients with Sepsis
Early goal-directed therapy initiated within the first six hours of sepsis diagnosis has been shown to substantially decrease mortality rates. The ground-breaking, intelligent Portable Risk Stratification system assists clinicians in rapid risk stratification for timely clinical intervention.

Team: Maxerence Pte Ltd
Solution: Pillpresso – Your Medication Assistant
A home-based medication device that aims to improve medication adherence by simplifying medicine sorting, automating medication reminders and monitoring adherence in real-time, empowering the elderly to manage their medication independently.

Team: Kinexcs Pte Ltd
Solution: The Remote Rehabilitation Kit
Targeted at post knee surgery patients, the wearable device helps users remotely monitor, track, analyse and report their rehabilitation progress. It provides localised, actionable data and compliance information to clinicians, while motivating users in maintaining workouts, to aid their recovery.

Team: STRIDER Pte Ltd
Solution: Wheels + Brakes for Existing Walking Frames
Able to be installed in just 10 minutes, they convert existing walkers into wheeled walkers and brake when leaned on for safety, through special braking technology. Elderly are spared from the repetitive efforts of lifting their walkers and are able to get around faster and safely.

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Winners were selected from 10 finalist teams comprising students, startups, engineering enthusiasts, and a senior inventor. The prototype of their products incorporated technologies such as companion robots with AI-driven interactions and autonomous navigation capabilities, smart medication dispensers, Virtual Reality rehabilitative solution, and smart homes applications.

Currently in third edition, the Tech Factor Challenge was organised by ST Electronics, held in partnership with SPRING Singapore and supported by SPRING Singapore’s Startup SG Accelerator initiative.

Tech Factor Challenge also announced that a total of nine startups were incorporated since the start of this edition. Each team received S$4,000 (US$2,900) in seed funding from ST Electronics, attended an experiential workshop to better understand the challenges faced by the elderly, and participated in workshops and mentoring sessions conducted by industry experts.

Eligible startups were awarded up to $20,000 (US$14,600) of funding support from SPRING Singapore to develop their prototypes with professional prototyping houses.

Clinical and technical mentors from healthcare institutions, including ST Electronics, Changi General Hospital, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Alexandra Health System, and Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, guided and supported the teams through their innovation process.

Teams were also provided access to the IMDA PIXEL Labs, using tools needed for their prototype development. They also had the opportunity to testbed their solutions in the Smart Ageing Design Lab at the Centre for Healthcare Assistive and Robotics Technology (CHART), Changi General Hospital, as well as at SG Enable.

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Image Credit: tomwang / 123RF Stock Photo

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