Elixir

This year, we are proposing an open biomedical design competition, in order to stimulate students to come up with creative and innovative solutions to current problems that impact the quality of health care in urban and rural areas. We have provided some sample problems for you to work on - but if there is an alternate need that catches your attention, you can also submit an abstract based on it.

2.1 Problem Statements

1. Low Cost Incubator
20 million premature and low-birth-weight (LBW) babies are born annually in the world. In India alone, a third of all babies born are LBW. 80% of these births occur in the rural areas of developing countries. 3.5 million of these babies die, while those that survive often develop life-long health problems like early onset of diabetes, heart disease and low IQ.
The idea is to design an incubator to keep the temperature of the infant regulated without much hindrance to the mother child interaction. The incubator should be low-cost, sustainable in rural environment and should encompass the vital features required for infant monitoring like maintenance of the ambient temperature and proper humidity conditions inside the incubator. It should be easy to maintain and operate. Also think on the lines of how you are going to power the incubator as constant power supply over a long period of time is not available in most of the places in India.

2. Prevention of Bed Sores
A bedsore is an area of reddened skin that causes breakdown of skin and underlying tissue to form sores and ulcers. Bedsores, also called decubitus ulcers, pressure ulcers or pressure sores, begin as tender, inflamed patches that develop when a person's weight rests against a hard surface, exerting pressure on the skin and the soft tissue over bony parts of the body. This is most likely to happen when the person is confined to a bed or wheelchair for long periods of time and is relatively immobile. Bedsores develop as a result of pressure that cuts off the flow of blood and oxygen to the tissue. Constant pressure pinches off capillaries, the tiny blood vessels that deliver oxygen and nutrients to the skin. If the skin is deprived of essential oxygen and nutrients (a condition known as ischemia) for even as little as an hour, tissue cells can die, to eventually form bedsores.
Your challenge is to develop an electromechanical platform for promoting blood-circulation in patients who have to lie down on beds for long durations. This device should function with minimal paramedic assistance. The device should be easy to use, should help in reducing the chances of infection and should not cause shear because even minor amount of friction can cause the ulcers to burst. You can channelize your efforts for development of special foams, fibres and gels as padding materials used on chairs and beds to relieve the pressure on bony prominences by alternating the pressure between various body parts.

3. Driver Drowsiness Detection
Automobiles have revolutionized the human life in a significant way. People use vehicles for traveling off to various places for the purpose of work and for fun. With the rapid increase in the number of automobiles running over roads today, the danger of accidents is also increasing. One of the major causes of accidents is driver fatigue. Recent statistics estimate that, annually 1,200 deaths and 76,000 injuries can be attributed to fatigue related crashes. The development of technologies for detecting or preventing drowsiness while driving is a major challenge in the field of accident-avoidance systems.
Your task is to develop a prototype drowsiness detection system. Focus may be placed on designing a system that will accurately monitor the drowsiness condition of the driver in real-time and raise an alarm whenever the driver is feeling sleepy and is losing control over the vehicle.

4. Development of Prosthetic Devices
The human body is a remarkable piece of biological machinery, but having physical incapacity as a result of the loss of a limb is tragic. With the advancement of science and technology, artificial replacement through prosthetic limbs has improved lives of many disabled people. The scope for discovery and innovation in the field of prosthetics is limitless.
The objective is to create a bio-mechanical limb, capable of replicating the functionality of the lost body part, thus helping physically disabled people to overcome their disabilities in an improved and hassle free way. The limb movement should be like the body part, i.e., its movement should be involuntary and controlled by the movement of the body muscles.

5. Smart Braille Reader
We all take our sight for granted and tend to forget how fortunate we are that we can experience an entire visual existence that those with no sight will never know. There are an estimated 45 million blind people and 135 million visually impaired people worldwide. For the blind, content on the web is like a giant gaping void because they have no way of navigating. Monitors are useless for conveying information to the blind. They basically live in a different world just parallel to our own, one that we will never know.
Your challenge is to develop a platform which, when connected to a computer, can convert an e-book into its proper translation into Braille and enable the person to detect the letters by moving his/her hand over that platform.

6. Portable Dialysis Technique
Every year, millions of people die prematurely of kidney failure. The incidence of kidney failure (or chronic kidney disease) has doubled in the last 15 years and is growing at a rate of approximately seven percent annually.
Dialysis is a method for removing waste products such as potassium and urea as well as free water from the blood when there is a renal failure. It is estimated that currently there are millions of people worldwide for whom dialysis is a necessity. The treatment being expensive, 90% of the patients who suffer from kidney diseases in India are not able to afford the treatment.
Your challenge is to develop a low cost dialysis process which is efficient. This could be done by either developing a new filtering technique or improving an older filtering agent. Innovation can be seen in the process of disposal of waste collected inside body and the efficiency of your process.

7. Innovate and Create
The fields suggested above are just few examples to initiate the thought process and should only be taken as a starting point in the innovation process. The participants are free to choose any field in which they feel the need to innovate and come up with solutions in that field. Also provided below is the pool of ideas which tries to encompass few aspects of the healthcare system today.
The list given below is not exhaustive and should only be taken as reference.

1. Challenge of developing walking aids for the blind which help them in easy movement by detecting obstacles in their path and communicating their position and that of the surroundings.
2. Electromechanical strap-on legs/wheels for articulation: for a polio victim or a person who has weak lower body, person suffering from osteoarthritis. These mechanical legs should be able to perform day-to-day activities like climbing stairs, balancing body weight, preventing falls and providing mobility.
3. To come up with innovative and reliable ways of detecting cancerous cells. It can be developed on the lines of sampling methods, detection techniques involved and the accuracy involved in the overall process and applicability of the process at the scale of the masses.
4. Developing variable focus/auto-focus spectacles especially as a replacement for bi-focal lenses. These devices can have features like be able to adjust power of the lens over wide range and indicate the set power of the lens.
5. Mechanism/devices for safe disposal of toxic substances/medical waste.
6. Methods for deriving energy for battery operated implants directly from the body thus bypassing the need of recharging the batteries externally.
7. Low cost diagnosis kits that can be used in rural India - for H1N1, AIDS, TB (even for other pathogens in water bodies), Cr or Pb in water.
8. Approaches for long term stability of vaccines and drugs that need to be stored in rural India.
9. TB patients need to take drugs for 6-9 months. Currently after a few months tracking them and monitoring their treatment is a problem. This also leads to resistance developed by TB bacteria, thereby creating the need for innovative approaches to monitor TB patients. Think on how we can monitor the TB patients and a system to keep a check on their medication.
10. Simple, low-cost, non-contact diagnostic self-assessment of intraocular pressure. E.g. a controlled jet of sterile air directed towards the cornea and opto-electronic measurement of the relaxation hysteresis of the indented corneal fibres.
11. Development devices which are able to continuously monitor a wide range of physiological signals together with the user's activity and context to develop a personalized, data-rich health profile of the user over a period of time. They should be able to raise an alarm or communicate any deviation from regular activity to the concerned people. Focus on accuracy and reliability but at the same time keep them affordable, unobtrusive and minimally invasive if the general population is going to adopt them in future.

These are just examples to help you. You do not have to limit yourself to these problem statements. The job at hand is, still, innovation in the field of health care to touch a million hearts.

View the Competition Structure »

Dates	Role of the participant
14th September	Submission of abstracts in the format specified below with detailed approach to solve the problem. Allocation of mentors would be done on this basis.
20th September - 30th November	Participants to prepare a model on their project and document it through a technical report and make a video showing the working mechanism. Last date of receiving the video and report: 30th November.
30th November - 20th January	Shortlisted participants to improve upon the working prototype of their project and prepare a presentation for the same.
22nd - 24th January	Final presentation along with the demonstration of the working prototype.

Participants unable to submit their abstracts by 1^st September 2009 or those who haven’t been shortlisted for mentor allocation can still participate by sending us a detailed technical report by 30^th November 2009 (which is the last date for registration).

3.2 Abstract Submission

All submitted abstracts will be screened and the teams will be shortlisted based on these. Among these a few top student teams would be provided with mentors. A mentor would be an expert in the field relevant to the subject of the abstract. He would be of immense help in carving your brainchild into an implementable solution by providing you with guidance at each step.
The last date for submitting the abstract is 1^st September 2009.

The abstracts should be mailed to prayaas[at]techfest[dot]org with the subject "Prayaas: Elixir Abstract Reg. No. EXxxxx ". Please do not forget to mention your registration number in your abstract while sending it.

Format for Abstract Submission

It is recommended that the abstract be as concise as possible, however the following points must be addressed in the abstract:

1. Introduction
   • a. Background of the problem to be solved.
   • b. Description of concept, idea or approach to solve the problem.
2. Technical details of product or method
   • a. Rough technical specifications, pictorial representation of the product.
   • b. Performance evaluation of the product.
   • c. Pros and cons of the product with respect to existing technology.
3. Plans of implementation
   • a. Approximate cost of the product or method developed.
   • b. Potential beneficiaries or customers.
   • c. Plans for mass manufacture (if any).
   • d. Any other relevant information in this regard.

The names of the shortlisted participants will be available on the website by 20^th September 2009.

3.3 Model Documentation - Technical Report and Video

After the short listing, participants will have to make a physical model for the solution, which will be reviewed in this stage. The participants will be required to submit a technical report and a video to demonstrate the progress made on their working model. The last date for the submission of the technical report and the video is 30^th November 2009. The panel of judges will analyze the report and the video and will give them a detailed feedback as to how the model can be modified to achieve a better result. The details of the shortlisted participants along with feedback from the judges would be communicated to them by 30^th November 2009.

The report and the video should be mailed by post to the following address:
Techfest Office
Students' Gymkhana,
IIT Bombay, Powai
Mumbai - 400076

3.4 Working Prototype and Final Presentation

After declaration of the finalists, participants will be required to make a working prototype of the project as well as a presentation covering the technical and financial aspects in a detailed manner. The teams will have to bring their prototypes to be judged and showcased at Techfest 2010.

The working prototype should be as close as possible to the product you intend to present to the end user. Support in manufacturing aspects of the prototype will be provided to few of the best teams. This would also help decide a better estimate of the cost of the prototype, reflecting closely the actual cost of the product.

No new entries will be entertained after 30^th November 2009.

Elixir will be judged by a panel of experts in the field of application. The following are the criteria for judging the solutions:

1. Innovation involved in the development of the idea and its practicality.
2. Implementability of the product.
3. Cost efficiency.
4. User friendliness of the product.
5. Conditions and the feasibility criteria under which your solution can be implemented.
6. Marketability of the product.
7. Potential impact on the masses (quantity as well as quality).

View the Rules »

4.1 General Rules

1. The participating entries must be in a team of a maximum of six people. If the participating team feels that their idea requires more participants in their team, they can forward their request, with suitable reasons, to prayaas[at]techfest[dot]org with the subject "Elixir team number increase".
2. The competition is open to all (students, research scholars and professionals).
3. Every team has to register online on our website for the competition. A registration number will be allocated to the team on registration which shall be used for future reference.
4. A team can participate at any point of time before 30^th November 2009. However, the abstracts submitted before 1^st September 2009 would be considered for mentorship. Teams which submit their abstracts at a later stage would be provided with mentors only if their idea is exceptionally good.
5. Judges' decision shall be treated as final and binding on all.
6. Note that at any point of time the latest information will be that which is on the site. The information provided in the pdf downloaded earlier may not be the latest. However, registered participants will be informed through mail about any changes on the site.

For international participants: All international participants will have to register before 30^th November 2009, and will have to submit the videos of their prototypes along with an abstract before 30^th November 2009. The shortlisted international team details will be put up on the website by 30^th November 2009.

4.2 Certificate Policy

Those participants whose ideas and plan of action are recommended by the judges on the basis of their ability to get implemented will be provided with certificates of participation.
The top entries from this event would be provided with certificates of excellence.

4.3 Team Specification

The participating entries must be in a team of a maximum of six people. If the participating team feels that their idea requires more participants in their team, they can forward their request, with suitable reasons, to prayaas[at]techfest[dot]org with the subject "Elixir team number increase".

5.1 Video Round Results (17th December 2009)

The Following teams are the Finalists for Techfest Prayaas: ELIXIR 2010: These teams are invited to present their Prototype at Techfest 2010 to be held from 22nd-24th Janauary 2010.
Further details will be updated soon.
Registration Numbers of Selected Participants:
EX 1046
EX 1048
EX 1055
EX 1085
EX 1086
EX 1112
EX 1114
EX 1116
EX 1118
EX 1122
EX 1137
EX 1153
EX 1156
EX 1160
EX 1166
EX 1168
EX 1170
EX 1177
EX 1178
EX 1179
EX 1182
EX 1185
Congratulations to all the Selected Participants. See you all at Techfest 2010.

5.2 Abstract Round Results

The following teams have been deemed as excellent on the basis of the abstracts:

1. EX1135
2. EX1030
3. EX1114
4. EX1123
5. EX1062
6. EX1048
7. EX1111
8. EX1055
9. EX1112
10. EX1116
11. EX1076
12. EX1137
13. EX1118
14. EX1132
15. EX1046