Riyadh hackathon puts digital health under the microscope

Thousands of young Saudis, including doctors, engineers, students and researchers, competed to develop technical innovations that improve medical services as part of a health care innovation hackathon at Princess Nourah University in Riyadh.
The three-day hackathon, one of the largest in the world in health care, ended on Saturday with a closing ceremony attended by Dr. Turki bin Saud bin Mohammed, president of King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), and Minister of Health Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah.
Hackathon activities were organized by KACST through its Badir Program for Technology Incubators, in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Competitions were designed to promote a culture of innovation and creativity in the field of digital health and improve medical services.
The hackathon’s mental health section was won by MindTeat, an application that uses clapping to treat mood disorders and anxiety. An InTouch application, which offers a therapeutic interactive experience, came second.
First prize in the brain health section went to the Alpha Crew project, which designed a headset that detects epileptic seizures. The Mobile Engineer for Non-professional project won second place.
In the connected health section, Harara Tech won first place for a system that accesses and directs treatment to victims after large-scale disasters. Dream Team came second for a project that uses realistic human models to simulate training experiences.
The Asfih project finished first in the assistive technology and reimagining aging section for 3D printed glasses that help people suffering from the neurological disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis to speak.
A Lyxar application, which helps people with reading difficulties use games, came second.
The blockchain and artificial intelligence for health care section was won by the Med Chain project for work matching patients with established clinical trials. The Tawthiq project came second for its work documenting testimonies from those working in health care using the blockchain technique.
A population segmentation application won first place in the data science for global health section.
The app helps patients during heart disease testing. The Iceberg Crusheres/Autism application came second for scheduling to avoid long waiting times at diabetes clinics.
In the section for wearable devices for health care, first prize went to a mobile application that allows blind people to read books, while second prize went to a mask that helps prevent lung infections.
The Oncoscrapper application came first in the cancer innovation challenge section for encouraging cancer patients to undergo chemotherapy. The Endue project, which tells patients about therapeutic decisions, won second place.
In the human-centered design for health section, the Elda project won for enabling health care providers to treat the elderly without moving them to hospitals. Second place went to HKMMA Smart Shoe, which helps people with diabetes and prevents amputation. Infra-Red Guide X-ray project came first in the dental hack section, with In-Oral Clip claiming second prize.