Reflecting on 25 years: Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE

The Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE is an international competition where participants are selected to create an innovative consumer technology and user-friendly mobile app. The XPRIZE Foundation and Qualcomm Foundation announced and subsequently launched the Tricorder XPRIZE, offering a top prize and prize purse to incentivize innovation and further development in medical diagnostics.

Inspired by Star Trek, the competition focused on developing a medical tricorder—a small device designed to provide consumers with their own reliable health diagnoses. This tricorder technology enables users to measure vital signs such as heart rate, oxygen saturation, blood pressure, and temperature, empowering patients and consumers to monitor their health independently. These devices are capable of diagnosing a wide range of diseases and medical conditions, including sleep apnea, atrial fibrillation, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, tuberculosis, diabetes, strep throat, otitis media, urinary tract infection, stroke, and whooping cough.

With the help of the Cloud DX team and medical director, Pivot developed research-based algorithms for diagnosing each condition and a simple, personable user interface to guide users through the diagnostic process. We created the “brain” and the user interface.

In the final stage of the Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE competition, real people with medical conditions evaluated the user experience for each device to determine the competition winner. The devices were tested with actual patients to ensure reliable health diagnoses and regulatory approval, focusing on usability and accuracy.

Out of 330 teams worldwide, we were in the top 7 and the only Canadian finalist. The competition had a global impact, with teams from around the world—including India, Canada, and California—aiming to improve access to healthcare in rural areas and medical facilities. Ultimately, we were awarded the Bold Epic Innovators award for pushing boundaries with our unique design and approach.

The challenge of developing advanced diagnostic systems continues, with a focus on further development, innovation, and the future of medicine. The involvement of organizations like the Roddenberry Foundation has supported the development and testing of medical tricorders. These devices utilize LED technology for health monitoring and represent a shift in medicine, empowering patients and consumers to manage their own health, supplementing the traditional role of doctors and medical professionals.