Winners of Tech Factor Challenge 2016/2017 show better ways of ageing in place

Singapore Technologies Electronics (ST Electronics) and SPRING Singapore today announced the four grand prize winners of the Tech Factor Challenge 2016/2017. Organised by ST Electronics, held in partnership with SPRING Singapore and supported by SPRING Singapore’s Startup SG Accelerator initiative, Tech Factor Challenge was themed Ageing-in-Place* this year. 

Source: ST Electronics. TIIM Healthcare with their winning solution for categorising patient risk of sepsis.

Three of the four winning solutions are part of the Internet of things: a portable sepsis risk assessment system, a smart home-based medication device, and a remote rehabilitation kit. Each team won S$25,000, in total constituting a third of the total cash prize of S$300,000. The remaining cash will be awarded to the teams upon the successful commercialisation of their solutions.

Winners were selected from 10 finalist teams comprising students, startups, engineering enthusiasts and a senior inventor, with prototypes that incorporated technologies such as companion robots with artificial intelligence (AI)-driven interactions and autonomous navigation capabilities, smart medication dispensers, a virtual reality rehabilitative solution, and smart homes applications.

“At ST Electronics, we believe that technology is a key enabler to improve the lives of our elderly. As they enter their golden ageing years, we want them to enjoy and benefit from improved standards of healthcare. As a key player in Singapore’s ICT industry, we are committed to investing in innovation and building up local engineering talents to solve real-world problems, in this instance, for the ageing population.

"By creating an environment that encourages experimentation and quick prototyping, we hope to discover breakthroughs that can be commercialised in an affordable and timely way to enhance our healthcare for the elderly while seeding the build-up of a silver industry,” said Tang Kum Chuen, Deputy President of Corporate Development, ST Electronics.

Source: ST Electronics. Maxerence with the Pillpresso. The device allows doctors or nurses to adjust medication dosage remotely. 

Ted Tan, Deputy Chief Executive of SPRING Singapore and the Guest-of-Honour for the event said, “The Tech Factor Challenge encourages engineers and entrepreneurs to develop commercially-ready applications that can address real world problems. The theme this year, Ageing in Place, is apt in addressing the challenges and opportunities presented by the greying population in many countries.”

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

The winning teams are:

TIIM Healthcare	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 Portable Risk Stratification system consists of a portable device and a novel intelligent scoring system to assist clinicians in rapid and real-time risk stratification.
Maxerence	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.
Kinexcs	The Remote Rehabilitation Kit Targeted at post knee surgery patients, the wearable monitoring device helps users remotely 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.
STRIDER	Wheels + Brakes for Existing Walking Frames These convert existing walkers into wheeled walkers and enable braking when leaned on for safety, unlike existing wheeled walkers which have a falling risk. Elderly are spared from the repetitive action of lifting their walkers and are able to get around faster and safely.

Through the competition, a total of nine startups were incorporated. To help these startups kickstart their innovation process, each team received S$4,000 in seed funding from ST Electronics, attended an experiential workshop to better understand the challenges faced by the elderly, and participated in workshops and mentorship sessions conducted by industry experts.

Source: ST Electronics. KINEXCS with their Rehab Monitoring Kit, which uses AI and machine learning to perform rehab analysis, and report it to the clinician automatically.

Eligible startups were awarded up to S$20,000 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 further 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.

*Ageing in place refers to adapting homes and supporting seniors so that they can live independently in familiar environments for as long as possible.