Xpress-D/T

1. Problem Description -In times of pandemic situations (like the current one) & otherwise; in addition to ensuring safety & security of near & dear ones; as Governments/medical institutions; it becomes imperative to ensure everyone gets adequately tested; so as to avoid infection spread. Governments are committed to testing but due to large populations who require testing; don't have enough kits/procedures(which are faster, accurate & cater to remote areas). 

2. Proposed Solution - The proposed solution makes use of AI algorithms in battery operated devices to test samples of potentially affected people for a number of infectious diseases including Covid19. The testing becomes agile thereby ensuring that most of the population gets tested in a relatively shorter time period, from there homes & is also cost effective.

3. If Scaled Globally - Faster Testing times (few hours as compared to days), comfort of home, early medication start, less disease spread.      

1. The problem being addressed is around speeding up the detection of infectious diseases (like Malaria, Dengue, Covid19, etc) using AI algorithms for earlier treatment and preventing disease spread.

2. Scale of Problem (globally):

a. World Malaria Report - Nov 2018 -> 219 million malaria cases in 2017, up 2 million from 2016. The estimated deaths at 435000 in 2017. 

b. WHO Covid19 Dashboard - May 27, 2020 -> 5491678 confirmed cases, 349190 deaths. 

c. WHO Dengue & Severe Dengue - March 2, 2020 -> The number of dengue cases reported to WHO increased over 15 fold over the last 2 decades from 505430 cases in 2000 to over 3312040 in 2015. Estimated deaths from 2000 to 2015 increased from 960 to more than 4032.  

The factors relating to my solution (and an ideal solution) are around being agile and being accurate with limited manpower.  

To help address the problem mentioned above:

- The solution is a set of AI models which using deep learning process (and using available clinical data sets) gets trained and is able to identify the infectious disease parasites (malaria, Covid19, Dengue, etc) present within the body (blood smear, X-Ray, etc). If the parasite is not present then it concludes that the person is uninfected. If the parasite is present then it concludes that the person is infected; in which case the appropriate treatment needs to start. 

- The AI models once trained would be faster (as compared to human beings) and can do the job with a margin of error. Once trained properly - It also would minimise the occurence of human error which might become prevalent in pandemic kind of situations.    

- For such a model couple of parameters are of utmost importance – accuracy, size and portability. The aim of this model is to keep the same accuracy level as is being currently achieved, a smaller and computationally more efficient model and one which can be deployed easily to the edge and IOT things to help the solution reach remote areas.

1. The target population in this case (whose lives could improve through this solution) can be first responders and communities affected by:

- Infectious disease like malaria, Dengue, Covid19, etc

- These members could reside in urban or rural/remote regions of Nigeria, Congo, Mozambique, India, Uganda, etc. 

 2. For various infectious disease kind of situations - containing disease spread, diagnosis and faster medication start is the need of the hour. The solution caters to such needs of the people in the following ways:

- To detect the disease in a faster manner (in a few hours as compared to days currently) so that it can be confined and does not spread.

- Once detected  - Appropriate medication can start as soon as possible. 

3. Currently the solution is in the prototype stage. The above category of people are not directly benefitting from these solutions as there is a need to educate such masses about the existence of such a technology. Once educated & when this gets rolled out - this will benefit people's lives by providing them with:

- faster diagnosis (from comfort of there home)

- cost effective

- faster medication start

thereby also helping confine the disease spread

The problem, solution & target population which i have described above are well-aligned to the challenge. 

While the challenge is around Covid19 (an infectious disease which has nowbecome a pandemic); there are other infectious diseases (like Malaria, dengue, etc) too which fitsin this category (not really pandemics but are big killers - infection & death statistics given above). All these diseases if not detected, contained & treated faster have the potential to become pandemics. 

The solution whichis talked about uses AI models to combine agility alongwith accuracy which are 2 ofthe most important parameters (inmy opinion) to help diagnose/contain spread. 

The solution is innovative because in addition to testing the masses in rural/remote & urban areas using the laboratory setup; it also tries to perform detection and testing from the comfort of homes by pushing the technology to the edge - using hand held, battery operated devices with AI algorithms preloaded into them for detection & testing. 

When we try and push such technology to the edge - These kind of solutions generally becomes computationally heavy and require a lot of power; that too reliable power supply; for them to operate. In remote areas to perform testing; reliable power sources might be difficult to find. 

My solution can be pushed to the edge as it makes use of a compact and computationally effective model; one which can be preloaded and can be battery operated and doesn't require much computational power. The batteries if they die down can be recharged whenever power is found. Hence to summarize the current solution's model is:

 - Single, compact model and obtain comparable results.

- Compact – the model file is compact in size.

- Faster than earlier models – less time to train the model & requires fewer parameters, memory/hardware.

- Because it is compact - it can be pushed onto edge devices thereby improving the reachability to far off locations.

- Best if pushed proactively to test rather than in a reactive mode after the spread of disease.

1. The AI algorithms is preloaded into the hand help devices (especially for rural/far off areas). In urban areas the intention is to use the AI algorithms in a laboratory kind of setup.  

2. Using the dataset the algorithm gets trained - for the same we make use of various AI Frameworks like Tensorflow, Keras, etc. 

3. On top of this is the other In house developed AI scripts, logic & integration algorithms which makes use of above AI frameworks

4. The hand held device would be battery operated and would have the disease detection models preloaded into it (one model per disease per device) to diagnose the specific infectious disease. 

5. It is this device which will be used to do the testing especially in rural/remote areas. In urban areas this testing can be done using the device  or the traditional laboratory setup - who would be making use of these AI algorithms in place of manual technicians.

1. A sample output screen of the algorithm (in image format) is attached below. It shows 2 samples (one infected and the other one Uninfected) getting detected using the algorithm. While the output screen shows 2 samples but in reality multiple samples can be detected and tested at the same time.

2. The output shown below is what a trained technician infers manually from his experience and capability and normally done under a microscope. Using this technology - this output gets produced from an AI algorithm loaded in a laboratory computer machine or on a battery operated hand held device and is trained to detect a specific infectious disease. The algorithm after performing the tests report the samples tested as "Infected" or "Not Infected". 

3. In rural areas and using the battery operated devices - the expected output will be a Red/Green LED kind of display representing the presence of infection or No Infection respectively. 

1. I expect my solution to have an impact on the problem as the solution caters to parameters like speed, accuracy and reachability which are essential in infectious diseases detection, diagnosis, spread and in pandemic type of situations like the current ones. 

2. The solution is agile/fast as one can get results in just about 5-10 minutes as compared to probably 3-4 days (depending on disease type being diagnosed) - that too is dependant on good & skilled technicians being available and ones who are not overloaded (which is highly unlikely in pandemic kind of situations). Today, if we see all around us our doctors, nurses, technicians are all overloaded because of infection spread; to top it they are expected to work 24x7 (because of disease spread). Human body is designed to operate upto a certain limit after which it somewhat breaks and human errors starts to pour in. The solution (as it has got trained over a period of time) helps medical practitioners get a small breather from their work and would be able to cater to the growing medical demands especially during pandemic times. 

3. During infectious disease breakout or pandemic kind of situations - there is a shortage of trained technicians (at least in remote locations). My solution (once trained properly) can effectively act as 1st line of defence and cater to population which might not be tested (or tested very late) due to the non availability of skilled and trained technicians. This is especially true for remote and far off locations where the solution will be able to reach through hand help battery operated devices.    

My solution currently is in the prototype phase and hence it has not been able to reach masses (the way I would have liked it to be) and has not been commercialized as yet. In the next 6-8 months - I expect it to reach at least some of these masses (especially in India to start with).

I have done a soft marketing of this solution and have got a few offers to collaborate on this with a few (for profit) organizations. I am still considering those offers. The intent is to use this solution to benefit the masses and diagnose infectious diseases faster and prevent pandemic like situations. I haven't really heard from Non Profit/charitable organizations to take this forward. 

The key success criteria for my solution will be if the masses whom I had highlighted above from infectious diseases affected countries and regions like Congo, India, Mozambique and most recently USA, UK, Italy, Spain, etc (affected by Covid19) are able to get identified & tested (in a timely manner) for the presence of a certain disease and if the mortality rate in such countries comes down due to an early start of medication/treatment.    

In the next 5 years, I hope to help over 5,000,000 people per year.  

The initial model is already developed and the project is already in the validation stage thereby giving us a head-start in this initiative. Over the next 60 months (and at a high level) the plan is to do the following:

1. 0-2 months: 

- Perform a full blown accuracy check of the model with select technicians and doctors.

- Educate the doctors, masses on the existence of this type of technology and how it can help speed up detection of infectious diseases. 

- Partner with a company to manufacture the hand held devices. 

- Financial model creation & initiation of sales of the products

 2. 2-18 Months:

-  Create awareness about this technology and hands on trainings to doctors, technicians, lab workers.

-  Making the model available to doctors, technicians, labs by means of internet and cloud technologies. Conducting tests on affected population, taking feedbacks to further improve.

 3. 18 Months- 36 Months

- Conducting tests on affected population - urban/remote through hand held devices/laboratory kind of setup 

4. 36-60 Months

- By changing the training models slightly; in addition to the currently existing infectious disease testing models (malaria, dengue, Covid19); testing of more infectious diseases can be incorporated thereby expanding the scope of infectious disease testing and diagnosis. 

1. Lack of knowledge amongst masses including doctors, technicians, governments, etc on how AI technology can be used to detect diseases and speed up diagnosis process especially in case of pandemic situations.

2. Since human lives are involved - Confidence building measure needs to be done at all levels (governments, doctors, technicians, etc) around the working of technology and its accuracy and efficacy. 

3. To raise money the investor needs to be aligned with the goals and objectives what we are trying to achieve.

4. Partner onboarding for manufacturing large scale hand help devices and loading/testing them with the AI models.

To overcome the above barriers

1. Trainings and sessions needs to be done to talk about AI, how it can be used to speed up diagnosis and how it can help medical practitioners do there job more effectively. 

2. Detailed accuracy analysis of the model – need to sit, consult and perform a full blown accuracy analysis of the model with select technicians and doctors. Plan to address this by demonstrating the results of this model to select technicians and doctors and ask for there support to correct and improve the model further for the specific disease identification process.

3.  For investors; I need to create data and reports around business values, ROI, achievements, long and short term goals. I would need help from Solve teams and i would also look at help from within my existing networks.

4. Partnerships with select like minded institutions need to be done. I have a few organizations in mind who would be interested in this pursuing this kind of initiative. With Solve Teams help (if possible)- can further explore the areas of partnerships and financial assistance. 

- Submitting this in Individual capacity currently. 

- I have a small team of 3 people working along with me who are helping me establish market connect. These people along with me have STEM background along with business setup, technology & marketing exposure. 

- I think together we are capable of taking this forward towards a more commercial kind of establishment going forward. 

- I also have plans to further expand this small team in the coming year. 

1. Ready Prototype  

2. Ready GTM -  60 month plan  

3. My network consists of a vast number of individuals and organizations who can step in & help.

4. I believe my past experience, experience of my network/colleagues, supported by Solve teams will be enough to propel this prototype to a sizeable business venture going forward. 

A brief about my profile, skills & achievements is listed below:

I have over 20 years of experience in the IT industry dealing with Fortune & Global 2000 clients for Sales, business consultancy, Post-sale transitions/technical implementations. I have expertise in researching new ideas, developing ideas to market facing propositions, growing them to become business-lines & creating teams for execution. I have been a part-of/led several such exploratory opportunities. Few salient ones listed below:

  - Member of the Global Exploration Team to explore new business areas for the company to venture into.

 - Member of the team which conceptualized a business which is now generating over USD 4 Billion Revenues annually.

-  Founder Member of a business line generating over USD 700 mill annually.

I have played several key roles and effectively guided teams across:

- Idea conceptualization/creating technical propositions, business plans

- Customer/Analyst Advisory presentations

- Heading large technology transitions, team creation

- Partner/Vendor ecosystems 

I have a small team who is helping me with this. These people have similar background as me. Together we are capable of taking this forward towards a more commercial kind of establishment. 

I haven't partnered with anyone right now. I have a few organizations and educational instituations in sight who will be brought into confidence and brought on-board with this. 

Besides as already talked about a few (for profit) organizations have already reached out and have expressed the desire to take this pilot to market. Am in process of evaluating the propositions. 

1. The populations that I plan to address and cater to are the ones wherever infectious diseases like Malaria, Dengue or Covid19, etc are prevalent. 

2. The products and services that I would provide to such people are:

a. Faster & accurate diagnosis for the medication to start asap

b.  First line of defence against the infectious disease/pandemic situation

c. Reachable to remote locations by pushing the solutions to the edge

d. Breather for medical practitioners (especially during an infectious disease outbreak or pandemic like situation)

3. The product or services that I would provide them is AI algorithm which can help diagnose various infectious diseases.

4. They would want them as by using these algorithms:

- the diagnosis can be pushed to edge locations/remote locations which might be difficult to reach especially by highly skilled and trained technicians

-  making affordable and quality diagnosis reach them 

- ability to identify the infectious disease faster thereby ensuring the appropriate medication/plan of action can start as soon as possible.

1. I seek from investors, raising about USD 1.4 mill as seed capital. My network consists of a lot of people from large organizations (including large pharmaceutical companies and VC's as well). 

2. I haven't currently demonstrated my solution to them directly and have only done a soft launch/marketing - but if need be and going forward - the solution and its efficacy can be demonstrated to these people and I can ask some of them to fund this solution. 

3. Am pretty confident of my revenue stream covering my expected expenses as the algorithms that I am talking about cater to  quite a lot of infectious diseases (more can be added by small incremental changes done on algorithms) along with a few other lifestyle diseases as well. 

Solve can help me overcome:

1. Helping my solution/prototype reach a wider and like minded audience. 

2. I enjoy networking and collaborating with individuals and organizations. 

3. Solve with its mentorship, direction, network connect, alumni network will be in the best position to help me reach out to people in need especially in the affected countries and help this solution to reach out to the masses when they need it the most - currently being a pandemic situation. 

Partnership Goals

1. Product/Service Distribution - Since the prototype is ready - With a partner who has an established network -  time to market can be cut down drastically. Hence it will be great if I can find a partner who can distribute the product/service using his network

2. Funding/revenue model - The partner can also help fund some part of the go to market strategy

3. Marketing, media & exposure - This kind of solution to reach to masses require significant amount of media exposure and marketing. The partner can help with execute the plan that I have in this regards and can also suggest improvements.   

1. MIT faculty - to help check the efficacy of the solution & suggest improvements

2. Organizations 

a. to manufacture hand held battery operated devices at scale

b. marketing and media initiatives

c. partly fund the solution as highlighted in point above

In current pandemic situation  - There are heroes all over the world who are putting their health and safety at risk to treat those who are infected and to save lives. 

I feel I am qualified for this prize as my solution aims to help such heroes by acting as 1st line of defence in an infectious disease outbreak/pandemic like situations. Let the AI algorithms do the 1st level of analysis and then these heroes can step in to perform a higher degree of analysis/diagnosis what the algorithms are not able to pick up. All this will; give such heroes a breather/rest from their tough daily routines and will also eliminate the potential for any human errors which might creep in because of these heroes being too tired or too busy handling the pandemic.

 How I intend to use the Elevate prize is as follows:

- Create a sustainable & scalable 1st line of defence to help heroes during an infectious disease outbreak or a pandemic like situation.  

- Reinvest a part back into the newer initiatives and in developing other AI use cases for other infectious/life threatening diseases. 

In current pandemic situation  - There are heroes all over the world who are putting their health and safety at risk to treat those who are infected and to save lives. 

I feel I am qualified for this prize as my solution aims to help such heroes by acting as 1st line of defence in an infectious disease outbreak/pandemic like situations. Let the AI algorithms do the 1st level of analysis and then these heroes can step in to perform a higher degree of analysis/diagnosis what the algorithms are not able to pick up. All this will; give such heroes a breather/rest from their tough daily routines and will also eliminate the potential for any human errors which might creep in because of these heroes being too tired or too busy handling the pandemic.

 How I intend to use the Elevate prize is as follows:

- Create a sustainable & scalable 1st line of defence to help heroes during an infectious disease outbreak or a pandemic like situation.  

- Reinvest a part back into the newer initiatives and in developing other AI use cases for other infectious/life threatening diseases. 

In current pandemic situation  - There are heroes all over the world who are putting their health and safety at risk to treat those who are infected and to save lives. 

I feel I am qualified for this prize as my solution aims to help such heroes by acting as 1st line of defence in an infectious disease outbreak/pandemic like situations. Let the AI algorithms do the 1st level of analysis and then these heroes can step in to perform a higher degree of analysis/diagnosis what the algorithms are not able to pick up. All this will; give such heroes a breather/rest from their tough daily routines and will also eliminate the potential for any human errors which might creep in because of these heroes being too tired or too busy handling the pandemic.

 How I intend to use the Elevate prize is as follows:

- Create a sustainable & scalable 1st line of defence to help heroes during an infectious disease outbreak or a pandemic like situation.  

- Reinvest a part back into the newer initiatives and in developing other AI use cases for other infectious/life threatening diseases.