Inspiration We have many older people in our families who struggle to understand their medical documents and don't know who to turn to. They often find current health portals and the internet unintuitive, creating a "digital divide" that leaves them disconnected from their own health data. We wanted to build a bridge, a tool that feels as simple as taking a photo but provides the clarity of a conversation with a trusted advocate.
What it does SimpleMed is a multimodal patient advocate that translates complex medical jargon into plain English. Users can upload photos of lab results, insurance statements, or medical bills to receive an empathetic summary. The app also features a voice narrator for accessibility and generates a simplified, printable PDF that seniors can physically carry to their next doctor’s appointment.
How we built it The application is built on Streamlit and powered by Gemini 2.5 Flash on Vertex AI for high-speed document vision and analysis. We used ElevenLabs for the integrated text-to-speech engine to aid users with visual impairments. On the backend, we implemented Python Threading and @st.fragment to manage background AI tasks without freezing the UI, ensuring a smooth experience for users who aren't tech-savvy.
Challenges we ran into Our biggest hurdle was managing secure cloud authentication within asynchronous background threads. We had to architect a custom "Hybrid Logic" system to pass Google Cloud Service Account credentials into isolated threads, ensuring the AI remained authorized during deployment.
Accomplishments that we're proud of We are very proud of creating a "zero-barrier" UI that feels genuinely useful for our own parents and grandparents. Successfully integrating a complex tech stack including Vision AI, Text-to-Speech, and dynamic PDF generation into a single, cohesive interface that responds in seconds was very fun and rewarding for us.
What we learned This project taught us that accessibility isn't just a "nice to have"; it is a technical requirement. We learned how to manage GCP IAM roles, the nuances of OAuth scopes, and how to build "empathy-first" prompts that provide clarity without stepping into the territory of unauthorized medical advice
What's next for SimpleMed We plan to expand SimpleMed to support multi-language translation, allowing non-native English speakers to understand documents in their primary language. We also hope to integrate a "medication tracker" feature that can identify pill bottles via photo and explain dosage instructions. We also plan to add a share via email functionality.
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