MIT Solve

Solution & Team Overview

Solution name:

New AI tools for digital medicine: The PIN, the PATCH and the GATEWAY.

Short solution summary:

The Pin and Patch detect viral or bacterial infections. They collect medical, motion and contact tracing data to diagnose COVID-19.

In what city, town, or region is your solution team based?

Madrid, Spain

Who is the Team Lead for your solution?

Adrián Rica Vicente,

Innovation Manager and Co-founder of VidaApp.

Which Challenge Area does your solution most closely address?

Recover (Improve health & economic system resilience), such as: Best protective interventions, especially for vulnerable populations, Avoid/mitigate negative second-order consequences, Integrate true costs of pandemic risk into economic systems

What specific problem are you solving?

With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a lot of testing for the virus is taking place globally. PCR testing is becoming the most common method used to identify whether someone is infected with COVID-19 or not. However, large institutions are failing to recognize that PCR testing is not scalable economically, especially for poorer countries, nor is it the more effective method to test for COVID-19.

A study at MIT confirmed that cough detection has a 98.5% sensitivity, is less invasive and easier to scale at larger quantities. Another study published by Stanford suggested that constant monitoring of vital signs and motion is also an accurate method to identify COVID-19, as infected people tend to have altered vital signs and less physical activity. With those two main studies in mind, our devices offer a combination of both suggestions - a constant monitoring of motion and vital signs and a cough detection - to identify COVID-19 at a cheaper and more efficient manner than what is conventionally and currently used. Thus, our solution reduces a logistic problem to the healthcare system.

Who does your solution serve, and what needs of theirs does it address?

As medical device manufacturers, the device will have to be CE/FDA marked and registered on the reimbursement list.

Who is the end user?

Healthcare provider: physician, pharmacist, hospital (...). If end-user is payor, we reach them through hospital or through purchase organizations.
Patient: full or partial reimbursement (ex. 100% for telehealth covered by social security).
Company: B2B, direct payment.

Who is the payor?

Patient, out of pocket, rare.
Social security and private insurance
Private hospital: usually direct negotiation
Public hospital: can go through networks or purchase organizations.

Mainly, we target dependent people, whose care is provided at homecare, long term care and health facilities. Our current objectives align with the challenge of using data to aid in a global pandemic. Bio-Pin is more oriented to healthcare professionals and the patch to patients.

Currently, we are collaborating with strategic partners, where we have a partnership with EIT Digital and Golden Spear – a Silicon Valley AI startup - to provide the early Sars-Cov-2 diagnosis algorithm. Pilots are installed in the US in two schools and one hospital in San Francisco Los Angeles to test out our products and improve them based on the needs that arise.

What is your solution’s stage of development?

Pilot: A project, initiative, venture, or organisation deploying its research, product, service, or business/policy model in at least one context or community