Saving Hearts around the World
(From left) Our students Sean Wong, Anthony Chew Zhi Qi and Lian Min from Team HeartSound
They may have been from different NYP Schools and different diploma courses, but the amazing trio put their heads and skills together to create a Smart StethoScope (S³) that doctors and patients can benefit from.
With their nifty invention, Team Heartsound beat 67 teams from other polytechnics, and even local universities like NUS and NTU, to emerge the champions at the local leg of Microsoft’s Imagine Cup 2017. The prestigious competition aims get young inventors to think out of the box and develop solutions to solve problems on a global scale.
Explaining the project, the team – comprising Sean Wong, Anthony Chew, and Lian Min from the Diplomas in Cyber Security & Forensics, Telematics & Media Technology, and Biomedical Engineering respectively – said the stethoscope can not only pick up suspicious heart sounds, it uploads the data in real time to the cloud, which can be viewed by healthcare professionals on mobile devices.
Essentially this means that while it is easy for patients to use the device, the crucial data is delivered quickly to the right people, and doctors can take urgent action if necessary.
After winning the local leg, the team travelled to take part in the Southeast Asia Regional Finals in Manila. There, NYP beat eight other regional teams to emerge 1st Runner Up.
This July, Team Heartsound will join six other top teams from the regionals to compete with the best of the best from around the world. The prize money at the Imagine Cup finals in Seattle, Washington, USA? A cool US$100,000 in cash.
The journey was not easy for them, as they only started work on it in January. The project was initially a piece of hardware passed down from a professor. For a cross-disciplinary team, they had to utilise their strengths and develop complementary software that was easy for both patients and doctors to use. Fortunately, they worked well together and had dependable lecturers they could lean on for advice.
Says Anthony: “I think what gave us an edge over most of the competitors is that our product is focused on healthcare, which is a big concern for society. We also have strong supporting statements which can convince potential users.”
The team has also received support from National Heart Centre Singapore (NHCS), where it will be conducting clinical trials in June to validate the device. The team wants to improve the device’s accuracy to make a more convincing case during the upcoming Imagine Cup World Finals.
“We will do our best, and aim to be world champions,” says Anthony.
Go team NYP! Because We Can