A device that can save lives: students create valuable ideas at a hackathon

Monitoring of various health indicators, personalised nutrition plans and reminders about the most important health checks-ups - these are just some of the solutions created by students to improve public health. Last week, students from all over Latvia met at the Riga i-Days event organised by the health community of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT Health), at which they searched for ideas for preventive health.

'Society is increasingly aware that health is not something abstract that lies in the hands of doctors. We ourselves are largely responsible for our state of health and for maintaining it. Therefore, amid our stressful everyday lives we are increasingly looking for various solutions and helpful tools which would promote healthier, higher quality lives The outcomes of this year's event where students developed such solutions were very satisfactory. The students' ideas have a lot of potential to improve the state of public health or to contribute to the prevention of serious diseases,' says Baiba Pētersone, director of the Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) International Department and head of the EIT Health RIS Hub in Latvia at RSU.

Around 82 students from 13 different universities participated in the Riga i-Days event, including international students studying in Latvia as part of various exchange programmes. Over the course of two days, participants listened to lectures by industry professionals, were inspired by success stories, participated in training sessions, and received help from mentors to create innovative solutions.

The team "Echelon" received the highest evaluation from the jury. The winning team came together during the event and is made up of students who applied for the event individually. Students from RSU and Vidzeme University of Applied Sciences developed the idea for a device that constantly monitors seniors' health data and sends an alert to the contacts linked to the program, such as the user's children, in case of significant deviations. This system would make everyday life easier and give peace of mind to people whose parents or other loved ones with serious health problems living alone and for whom it is important to provide timely medical assistance.

The solution that the team developed differs from other similar tools that are already on the market by its wide set of indicators and a built-in voice recognition solution, which would both allow for the identification of a crisis situation and to recognise a call for help, as well as to establish communication with the patient.

The members of the winning team agree that cooperation with students from other academic fields and new contacts was the biggest benefit of the event. 'The ideation process during i-Days and the resulting victory proves what previously unacquainted but determined students can achieve together. Each team member had their own experience and unique contribution to the idea. The fact that we were able to cooperate successfully comes down to the luck of meeting the right people at the right time,' says Shashwat Anirudh, a representative from the team “Echelon”.

The creators of the most promising idea are going to Barcelona at the end of November. They will represent Latvia and present their idea in the finals of the i-Days European competition. All teams will receive participation certificates from EIT Health, as well as access to the EIT Health alumni network, which provides a wide range of opportunities – funding, networking events, investor meetings, professional courses on artificial intelligence and other innovative topics, support for access to international markets, and other valuable benefits. Additionally, all the teams have been offered an opportunity for further mentoring of developing their idea and turning it into a competitive business. One of the mentors and one of the jury members came up with this additional prize inspired by all the teams.

The theme of the Riga i-Days was preventive health and looking for solutions to address it from two perspectives - changing habits and lifestyle, as well as early diagnosis of diseases. Among the solutions were ideas such as personalised nutrition plans, applications and artificial intelligence tools that help users find the nearest free appointment time with a specialist, or reminders about necessary health check-ups, examination algorithms and tools for improving oral health, assistants for successful pregnancy, and automatic measurement systems to indicate cortisol levels.

About i-Days

i-Days events promote health innovation among university students through dozens of one-day and two-day programmes held at academic institutions throughout Europe. Students from all academic areas can receive an introduction to practical health innovation tools and compete in teams to tackle real-life health challenges posed by EIT Health, local organisations, private corporations, or start-ups. The winning team of each i-Day event will attend the Winners’ Event, a final competition that gathers students from around Europe.

About EIT Health

EIT Health was established in 2015, as a "knowledge and innovation community" (KIC) of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). EIT Health is a European public-private network in the field of healthcare, established by more than 150 partners (i.e. leading European companies, universities, research and development centres, as well as hospitals and institutes). The aim of the network is to provide healthcare that will enable European citizens to live longer and healthier lives in the future. EIT Health enhances the skills of European healthcare professionals by investing in their professional development and promoting the international commercialisation of innovative medical products. EIT Health RIS Hub in Latvia has been located at Rīga Stradiņš University since January 2019.