Medafford

Inspiration: We wanted to figure out a way to help people to be able to measure vitals at home without having to go to the hospital, reducing risk of transmission of diseases, as well as reducing the strain on hospitals right now. This is closest to Track 3.

What it does: We intend on making ultra affordable medical devices, such as a pulse oximeter and a blood pressure monitor, which will allow people who can not normally afford the expensive medical devices to stay home and keep track of their vitals, and make sure they go to the hospital only when necessary.

How we built it: We looked into how much each of the parts costs, including the smallest sensors and boards, and calculated the estimated total. We also were estimate how much this would cost if we were mass producing it, making it cheaper than our proposed prototype.

Challenges we ran into: We are not really good at programming at the moment, but we are currently trying to learn how to do so. We also ran into issues with finding the individual sensors, but we ended up finding them at the end!

Accomplishments that we're proud of: We were able to bring down the cost of the devices by almost two thirds! This increases the accessibility of the devices to many people worldwide who would not normally be able to afford them.

What we learned: We learned how to bring down the costs effectively, as well as solve several problems, such as reducing the risk of transmission of disease, reducing strain at hospitals, and making sure people can know their health without needing to worry or travel to the hospital.

What's next for Medafford: We intend on applying this strategy of making affordable medical devices to even more variations, such as infrared scanning thermometers, and other useful devices, especially during a pandemic.