MedifyAI

"In 2021, about 4.5 billion people, more than half of the global population, were not fully covered by essential health services" (WHO). This alarming statistic displays how impactful the issue of inaccessible healthcare currently is. From the local to the global scale, communities are devastatingly affected, and people are continuing to suffer. Especially in circumstances where the situation is not obviously an emergency, everyone should be able to have access to the first steps to provide them with the peace of knowing they are safe. In addition, more than 100 hospitals closed in rural areas in the United States from 2013 through 2020. "As a result, residents had to travel about 20 miles farther for common services like inpatient care, and 40 miles farther for less common services, such as alcohol or drug misuse treatment" (GAO.gov). With rising costs for healthcare, many people risk their lives, disregarding a small issue as unnecessary for a visit to the hospital, which ends up turning into a bigger problem. "As of 2022, 38% of Americans said they or a family member skipped or delayed medical care, amid the highest rate of inflation in more than 40 years, according to an annual health care poll from Gallup" (CBS).

I have developed a medical app that can provide resources in emergency health situations, helping residents of rural areas, specifically, get access to first steps. My interactive app, MedifyAI, has multiple features to provide assistance in numerous ways. It helps identify symptoms through voice-automated AI. You can click a button to tell the app how you are feeling and what you are experiencing, and it will respond with potential causes, diagnoses, and treatments you can do at home, if possible, or alert them to seek emergency care, providing the patient with comfort and ease of knowing their condition. As no typing or reading is involved, urgency is taken into account, allowing users to get the information they need quickly. In addition to this, it uses image classification, in which you will be able to scan a physical wound and get possible diagnoses. With this diagnosis from the image recognition feature, the user can then go to the More Information section to find out more about treatments. In the case that it is necessary to seek professional expertise, the app gives users the option to quickly text or call someone and automatically send your location to contacts or authorities, as well as to find a hospital nearby. 

Currently, I have developed this app by coding it in MIT App Inventor. A demo of the app I have made can be found in the elevator pitch. 

The image classification feature will soon include more diseases, and I would like to customize it even more, hoping to expand it even more to improve healthcare accessibility and change the world. This technology could also be implemented into a kiosk for low-income neighborhoods or mobile vehicles, such as mobile health centers. With healthcare being inaccessible, so many people’s lives are impacted dangerously. This is why creating a more equitable and efficient system is so important. 

My solution serves anyone in need of healthcare, which is currently most of the world, as healthcare is so inaccessible. Specifically, the target population will be individuals facing humanitarian crises, as they do not have access to hospitals or medical care, and an app like MedifyAI can provide comfort and quick care. For example, in Gaza, according to the United Nations News, around 75% of hospitals (35 to 36) were no longer operational in just more than one month of the crisis. The technology of my app can implemented to help many who are suffering. MedifyAI has the potential to improve the lives of almost everyone. Even for those not currently in a crisis, medical care is still expensive and not easily accessible in many countries. Having a quick solution can provide comfort for those who may be concerned about the issue without them having to go through unnecessary hospital fees.

I am well-positioned to deliver this solution because I understand the situation's urgency and empathize with those suffering. I believe healthcare should not be a privilege but a right. Having first-handily noticed how skeptical families are to seek medical care at the first sight of an issue, I recognize how necessary it is for healthcare to be more accessible to all. The design of my app is guided around communities that need it as it is made for emergencies and first steps. With the AI assistant, users can conveniently speak to and hear from it, which can save time in emergency situations while getting to care, or when a patient is not fit to type or read. 

My project is in the prototype stage because I have created a working app that helps identify and diagnose symptoms through AI, classify wounds, find solutions, find a hospital, and notify/call and automatically send your location to contacts or authorities in an emergency. However, I have not served any customers as I have been focusing on developing it, adding diseases to the image classification feature, and figuring out how to expand it technically and create it with a coding language rather than block code. With the app I have now, I won the 2nd District's Congressional App Challenge and am dedicated to taking it further.

I am applying to Solve to receive guidance and advice on how to implement my project on a larger scale and actually make an impact on others. With partners, I hope to receive support with technology. I want to train my app to add more diseases and code this, which professional help would be useful for to get guidance. Then, Solve would help me implement my idea into communities. This includes getting my app on platforms for users to download such as the App Store and Play Store, as well as creating other applications of it once it is used and tested. Some ideas I have for this is using the technology for a kiosk to put in low-income communities or places in a crisis and in mobile health centers (similar to mobile libraries, but for emergency medical care in places where the number of hospitals are decreasing). Becoming an MIT Solve Innovator would provide me with the connections to spread my app and get funding for my implementation, as well as having partnerships with other technology-medical companies. Overall, I am looking for feedback on how to improve my project, helping me spread it and help more lives.

My solution is innovative as it is unique and takes into account many aspects of the issue I am trying to solve. My project uses AI to create an assistant you can talk to rather than type with. This increases efficiency in emergency situations, helping patients address their needs quickly, if needed, to seek expert care. While tools like ChatGPT can help offer solutions and a potential diagnosis, MedifyAI is more efficient, as it is voice-automated, uses image classification and machine learning to identify wounds, and specifically caters to medical issues. From the diagnosis, you can easily search for treatments or automatically get told options by the AI. It can catalyze broader impacts from others by inspiring them to use technology for good to solve an important issue. It has the potential to spark a series of new AI innovations that target an issue, creating a better world together.

The long-term objective of MedifyAI is to improve the accessibility of healthcare across the world. My project will do this with each feature as a step towards my goal. The image classification feature will help users identify wounds. The voice AI feature will help users quickly understand their symptoms and get the first steps to try. The more information section will help them go deeper with their diagnosis and understand what can be done from there. The feature to find a hospital will allow users to get emergency care if necessary. Being able to notify/call and send your location to contacts or authorities also ensures this. All these features work together to help users understand the concerns they have about their health and get the care they need, no matter the situation. Immediate outputs of my project will be individuals getting the care they need and improving their health. In the long term, health care will be more accessible, and lives will be saved. When the technology is implemented in kiosks at hospitals, low-income communities, places of humanitarian crises, larger companies/corporations, and mobile healthcare centers for scans, healthcare will be initially more affordable. The impact will be more widespread and on a larger scale, ultimately helping even more people. 

1. Strengthen the capacity of all countries, in particular developing countries, for early warning, risk reduction and management of national and global health risks

2. Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all.

3. Help individuals in humanitarian crises who do not have access to hospitals and care seek solutions and advice for emergency health situations.

The core technology that powers my solution is AI. The main parts of my app are image classification and an AI assistant. The image classification uses machine learning to distinguish different physical wounds/diseases. The AI assistant uses ChatGPT in a voice recognition format, as no typing or reading is involved. Other parts of my app also use different forms of technology. One feature can locate where a user is and recommend hospitals nearby to seek professional care, implementing Google Maps. It also uses its locating feature to send a user’s location to a contact or emergency number so they can receive help if they are alone.

1

5 months

I ensure that new members of my team will be included, as I have the passion and drive to make a positive impact on the world and am eager for more perspectives to contribute to my goal. I will provide a welcoming and inclusive environment for all members of different backgrounds. I value different points of view and make it a priority to give opportunities to those of marginalized groups. I will strive for a team of diverse members who bring new ideas and contributions to MedifyAI.

MedifyAI leverages advanced AI technology to make healthcare more accessible and efficient. The app, directly available to consumers via app stores, features an AI assistant and image classification technology that help users gain preliminary insights into their health issues and potential medical conditions. This immediate feedback is especially beneficial in underserved areas where medical expertise is scarce.

MedifyAI serves individual users seeking quick, trustworthy medical advice and healthcare providers looking for innovative diagnostic tools. The business model focuses on continuous technological enhancement, robust customer support, and maintaining compliance with healthcare regulations to ensure reliability and privacy.

Looking forward, MedifyAI plans to expand its offerings by licensing its technology to healthcare institutions for use in diagnostic kiosks, enhancing patient intake efficiency. Additionally, there is potential to develop versions capable of analyzing complex medical data such as MRIs, broadening its impact across various medical diagnostics. Licensing agreements with healthcare entities are where the revenue will stream from.

By integrating cutting-edge AI with practical applications in health diagnostics, MedifyAI not only aims to transform individual health management but also to improve the broader healthcare landscape through partnerships and strategic expansions.

I will generate revenue for my work through grants and other funding. Additionally, MedifyAI's technology will be licensed to large hospitals and corporations, who will distribute our products to consumers. I know that MedifyAI has to potential to be a successful product and gain revenue, as it has been selected to win the Congressional App Challenge and has the possibility to change the world.