The UC San Diego chapter of Engineering World Health held its second annual HealthHack
February 27-28, garnering over 110 students of varied engineering and health
science majors to produce a prototype or design to solve a serious global
health problem.
The teams, comprised of up to four people, were given the
following challenge: “To diagnose, limit, prevent, or treat a mental condition
and its associated problems. Empower a patient to curb dependence on
inaccessible resources, specifically in a low-resource setting.”
Neel Parekh, President Project
Team for EWH, described what generated the prompt for HealthHack was what he
sees as a significant need.
“I guess the simple answer is
that mental health solutions are just not represented well in the engineering
community,” Parekh said. “Engineers often focus on infectious and chronic
diseases, but tend to give up when it comes to mental health. I also researched
the [statistics] and felt bad myself for kind of not contributing to that realm
enough, and [I] decided to pursue it further until I realized that there could
be some really interesting engineering solutions to these mental health issues.”
According to the World Health Organization, countries with
low and lower middle incomes carry almost three-quarters of neuropsychiatric
disorders worldwide. Almost one-third of countries do not have a defined budget
for mental health. Even more so, roughly 21 percent of countries that do have
specific mental health budgets provide less than 1 percent of their total
health budget on mental health.
The competition consisted of 27 hours of hacking, with the
aid of graduate student, faculty, and industry mentors. Additionally, all participants
had Arduinos and access to the MAE Design Studio at their disposal, in addition
to workshops on 3D Printing and Hardware. Teams had to submit a written
proposal, outlining the current need for the prototype or device, explanation
of the solution, process for implementation, and any limitations and potential
collaborations.
The first round of judging was a project expo, in which the
23 teams that submitted final proposals delivered 3-minute pitches to judges
from academia and industry. Six finalists were selected for the last round. After a keynote speech from Illumina representative Adrian Fawcett, each team gave an 8-minute presentation before a panel of judges, including
representatives from ResMed, the von Liebig Entrepreneurism Center and UC San Diego.
Prototypes and designs included:
- Hidden watch
for anxiety and epilepsy
- Wearable
headband to aid narcolepsy patients
- Mobile game
for individuals affected by autism spectrum disorder
- Whole cell
biosensor for a holistic approach to depression, bipolar disorder,
anxiety and ADHD
- Stuffed
animals to comfort those suffering from depression
- Mobile app
that tracks diet and physical health to improve awareness and
self-diagnosis of depression, schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive and
bipolar disorders
- Aid for
refugees suffering from PTSD
- Focus on
maternal stress and cortisol levels
- Isolation
prevention for the mentally distressed
- Game that
improves independence for the depressed, without having the affected
realize the game is for treatment
- Application
of radio frequency to provide diagnostic information for PTSD patients
- Aid for the
chronically homeless affected by mental and behavioral disorders
- Game for
young adults suffering from depression
Finalists
Third Place: PEN
Rodolfo Flores, Applied Mathematics, ‘18
Alfredo Lucas, Bioengineering: Bioengineering ‘18
Gustavo Umbelino, Computer Science, ’18
Focused on ADHD, in particular students who easily fall
under in-class distractions, the team developed a Stimulating Pen that sends
constant reminders to the users through vibrations and visual cues. The device
also has a component for anxiety relief that allows the user to continuously
press the button on the pen’s top, similarly to clicking a pen nonstop. The
incidence of ADHD is higher amongst impoverished individuals, correlating
income with the disease’s prevalence.
Second Place: Calm Cap
Neha Chhugani, Bioengineering: Biosystems, ‘19
Anokhi Saklecha, Biochemistry and Cell Biology, ‘19
Renu Singh, Bioengineering: Bioinformatics, ‘18
Vaish Sridharan, Bioengineering: Bioengineering, ‘19
These four girls were awarded
$500 in prize money for their $5 wearable head device that alleviates anxiety,
the most prevalent neuropsychiatric disorder worldwide. The device utilizes
acupressure beads at acupressure points GV 24.5 and GV 20, cerebral regions
that the International Anesethesia Research Study reports to correlate with
stress relief. In addition, the device includes a battery-operated sound chip
that plays calming music or meditation instructions and a microprocessor that
records frequencies and durations of panic attacks. Calm Cap is worn at
patient’s discretions, such that they may put on the device when they feel a
panic attack approaching, and they may do so without any additional aid.
First Place: Amniotic Wrap
Niranjanaa Jeeva, Bioengineering:
Bioengineering, ‘19
Ella Stimson, Bioengineering:
Bioengineering, ‘19
Julie Yip, Bioengineering:
Biotechnology, ’18
With the prize money of $1000, the team looks forward to
collaborating with the von Liebig Entrepreneurism Center to further develop
their prototype. The team was focused on Postpartum Depression, a disorder that
affects 15 percent of mothers after giving birth, and this condition affects
almost twice as many women in underdeveloped countries in comparison to
industrialized countries.
One of the symptoms of PPD is difficulty bonding with the
infant, thus, the team created a blanket that connects mother to child. The
baby has a small sock with Lilypad Arduinos and infrared sensors, which detect
the baby’s pulse and therefore its heart rate. This heart rate is sent via
Bluetooth the mother’s blanket, which has Lilypad Arduinos and vibrational
motors that mimic the baby’s heart beat. A study at the Eindhoven University of
Technology revealed that biosignals of an individual’s heart beat can form an
intimate connection and interpersonal distance with another person. In
addition, the changes in the infant’s heart rate will be analyzed to gently
awaken and notify the mother, before hearing the cries of her child. Estimated
at $12 in cost, the design strengthens the mother-infant bond and has potential
to relieve other symptoms of PPD, allowing the mother to independently improve
her health in the comfort of her home.
First year Bioengineering student Niranjanaa Jeeva expressed
her surprise, noting her attendance was derived in her hope to develop more
engineering skills, and she noted how competing was a humbling experience.
“HealthHack was definitely an exciting experience!” Jeeva
told the Jacobs School. “I went into it hoping to learn a few engineering
skills, maybe create a viable idea to present at the end of the weekend. As a
first year, I believed that there was really no way that I could win. Luckily,
I was part of a great team. Together, we worked hard through many frustrating
hours to come up with our idea and had a great time doing it. Maybe it was
because I was so exhausted by the end of the second day, but I was so surprised
when we won. All the other teams who competed had such amazing ideas. I am so
grateful for the chance to have met and competed with such creative and
innovative people!”
Ella Stimson, also a first year Bioengineering student of
Amniotic Wrap, described how the event has encouraged her to further pursue
engineering for improved quality of life and global health.
“Initially, I joined for the experience and not so much for
the competition itself,” Stimson said. “This mindset continued until our group found a topic
and design idea that all of us were passionate about,” Stimson said. “I’m
thrilled that our enthusiasm was reflected in our product and supported by
others. This competition made me realize that there are so many areas of our
world’s health that is lacking resources and help and it amazes me that just 24
hours of designing and hacking can make an impact in that - whether it’s our
group or any of the other groups’ idea. Now, I really want to make sure that
our idea gets out there in the world and makes some kind of difference.”
As for the future of HealthHack competition, Parekh said to
the Jacobs School, “I just want the idea that engineers can contribute to
global health to continue to prosper and…have the UCSD community of
engineering, including professors, entrepreneurship, and administration, to
understand that they should be conducive to students that can come up with
really amazing things.”
