By EMS1 Staff
PLAYA VISTA, Calif. — The X PRIZE Foundation is teaming up with Qualcomm to design the Tricorder X PRIZE, a $10 million competition to develop a mobile solution that can diagnose patients and help them decide if they need professional help, and then helps them to develop a course of action, according to a press release.
Similar to the mobile devices used on Star Trek, the X-Prize project is aiming to produce a mobile medical device that can “diagnose patients better than or equal to a panel of board certified physicians.”
“For years, Qualcomm has been transforming lives by connecting people through incredible technologies,” said Dr. Peter Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation. “The X PRIZE Foundation is honored to work with Qualcomm to positively affect health consumers by developing a prize that will revolutionize consumer’s access to health data and information.”
The winning tool will combine technology usability, wireless sensors, cloud computing and mobile health to enable consumers in any location to quickly and effectively assess health conditions.
“Qualcomm strives to provide a means to see choices, make decisions and get the right care faster and more conveniently. We believe this is a fundamental step in helping people become true ‘Health Consumers’ who can have as much say in assessing and accessing healthcare as they would any other service or product,” said Don Jones, Vice President of Wireless Health Strategy and Market Development at Qualcomm Labs.
“Qualcomm believes the value of this X PRIZE is also in changing the cost structure and focus of healthcare. By having consumers take the initial actions to obtain health assessment data, the use and the quality of physicians’ time is improved.”
Eugene Wesley “Rod” Roddenberry, Jr., son of Star Trek creator, Gene Roddenberry, commented, “It is great to see two amazing organizations — the X PRIZE Foundation and Qualcomm — bring the technology of Star Trek to life and make the Tricorder a reality for people everywhere.”
The competition is expected to launch in early 2012.