App/Software

Hans Super of Braingaze in Spain will develop a low-cost application for smart phones that can measure eye vergence, which is when the two eyes align on one object, as a potential proxy for cognitive development in infants. They will generate software that presents visual images, and incorporate an eye tracking system that records eye position binocularly. The application will be tested on 10 infants between 6 and 24 months old, followed by cognitive performance tests to associate changes in eye vergence with brain development.

Peter Marschik from the Medical University of Graz in Austria will develop a mobile phone app to assess general movement in infants under 6 months of age for diagnosing neurological defects and predicting the development of abnormalities particularly in low-resource settings. General movement assessments (GMA) reflect the functioning of the developing brain and are normally made by video recording the whole body of an infant over 3-5 minutes followed by expert analysis.

Patrick De Boever of VITO in Belgium will study the effects of stress on neurodevelopment in children by building a database of biological markers of the stress response detected in saliva. They will generate comprehensive genetic and epigenetic profiles, such as DNA methylation patterns, of salivary samples taken after laboratory-controlled or environmental stress events from over 1000 children of a range of ages and backgrounds. The aim is to capture developmental changes in stress reactivity over time and use the profiles to predict the course of neurological development.

Jennifer Griffin of RTI International in the U.S. will test whether the gestational age of infants born prematurely can be determined by combining simple physical measurements with an automated analysis of the blood vessels in the retina using the camera on a mobile phone. As the fetus develops in the womb, blood vessels in the anterior lens gradually disappear, which closely correlates with gestational age at delivery.

Richard Fletcher of Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Global Health in the U.S., in collaboration with Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is developing a cell phone system that can aid in vaccination campaigns in developing countries. Cell phone cameras will capture images of hand vein patterns for biometric patient identification, tagging it via GPS to store vaccination location information, and cameras will also scan temperature indicator labels on doses to assess the quality and expiration of the vaccine.

Mark Thomas of VaxTrac in the U.S. will field test a mobile phone-based vaccination registry that uses fingerprint scans to track those who have received immunizations in hopes of reducing redundant doses and boosting coverage levels in developing countries.

Megan Beck of the Grameen Foundation USA is developing a prototype of content authoring and management software for the delivery of health information and tools to low-end mobile phones that can often only display 160-character SMS messages on small screens. Creating a platform for the dissemination of new and already existing information through mobile phones can provide needed access to critical health resources.

Allen Wilcox of Village Reach in the U.S., working with the University of Washington's Computer Science & Engineering Department, will refine and field test a mobile scanning application to transform paper data into a scalable digital system. The solution would lower time and cost for data capture, improve data quality from the point of care, and provide access to the same information for all levels in the healthcare delivery system.

Yaroslav Ryabov and Denis Broydo of BC Portal, Inc. in the U.S. propose to develop cell phones as biometric identification devices which use the phone camera to take and analyze near-infrared images of hand palms. The unique vein patterns found in the palm can be used by health workers in remote areas to identify individuals and maintain health records for these underserved populations.

Josiane Nzouonta and Renita Machado of Cayoll LLC in the U.S. will develop and test a cell phone application, eMosquitoNet, which plays music that includes sound waves at resonant frequencies of female Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, which transmit yellow fever and dengue fever. These sound waves cause uncontrollable vibrations and failure of the mosquito's navigation system, preventing them from feeding and spreading disease.