Developers of an ultra-portable, FDA cleared, hand-held, point-of-care device for breast health exams were named grand prize winners of the 2016 HITLAB World Cup^®, an international digital health challenge. The power packed competition took place before hundreds of medtech thought leaders at the HITLAB Innovators Summit^®: New York on November 30.

iBreastExam^TM (iBE)—the flagship innovation of UE LifeSciences, Inc.— enables community health workers to provide a standardized breast health exam in any setting within minutes and without any pain or radiation.

“We are truly grateful to have won the HITLAB World Cup and to be part of such a terrific program,” said Matthew Campisi, CTO, UE LifeSciences, Inc. “As we continue to scale our iBreastExam product offering, collaboration with partners like HITLAB will help create awareness and establish key partnerships.”

Nishita Rai, PhD, HITLAB’s executive director, said, “The HITLAB World Cup is invariably the highlight of our HITLAB Innovators Summit, a three-day event filled with fascinating talks and presentations on new health technologies.”

She continued, “We congratulate iBreastExam and all the finalists, who offered outstanding solutions to significant health problems. We look forward to advancing these projects and many others through collaboration at the Summit and during the year ahead.”

iBreastExam earned top honors and $5,000 USD by demonstrating the exceptional impact, innovation, feasibility, and business sustainability of its idea to judges Kara Dennis, MBA, MA, vice president and managing director of mobile health at Medidata; Jean-Luc Neptune, MD, partner, executive director and accelerator leader at Blueprint Health; Margaret Griffin, MPH, senior manager of innovation research at HITLAB; and Stan Kachnowski, PhD, MPA, CSEP, Chair at HITLAB.  

In addition to its Grand Prize, the 2016 HITLAB World Cup awarded the following:

Second Prize ($3,000 USD): Green Sun Medical 

Third Prize ($2,000 USD): EarID  

Fourth Prize ($1,000 USD): Near Infrared Imaging 

Fifth Prize: ($1,000 USD): MedLogiq 

“I couldn’t be more grateful and honored to have been a finalist at the HITLAB World Cup,” said Jamie Haggard, Green Sun Medical’s CEO and cofounder. “Our company’s mission is the prevention of as many scoliosis surgeries as possible with our tech-enabled dynamic brace. Competing in the HITLAB World Cup will help us refine the software component of our scoliosis brace and expand our network of health information technology professionals.”

“The HITLAB Innovators Summit does such a great job in bringing together experts from different sectors of healthcare,” said Anshuman Das, PhD, technical lead of EarID, a project by MIT’s Tata Center for Technology+Design and MIT Media Lab. “I feel honored to be a part of this network. This recognition will go a long way in helping EarID gain visibility in the healthcare community. There is a lot we need to achieve towards improving the quality of primary care and this momentum will propel us in the next steps of our journey.”

Determined to transform healthcare access, delivery, and outcomes, 74 teams applied for consideration at the 2016 HITLAB World Cup, representing 13 countries: Australia, Cameroon, Chile, India, Jordan, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, and Uruguay. Five finalists were ultimately chosen to present during the HITLAB Innovators Summit, held in Columbia University’s Lerner Hall.

Past winners of the HITLAB World Cup—including AdhereTech, Medisafe, NVS Technologies, and Ceeable—have gone on to raise more than $50 million in investment capital and helped or saved tens of millions of lives globally.

In 2016, generous sponsors include Medidata (HITLAB World Cup), Astellas, and BTG (HITLAB Innovators Summit).

The HITLAB World Cup is held annually in conjunction with the HITLAB Innovators Summit. The next Summit will take place November 28-30, 2017, again at Columbia University. In addition, satellite events and competitions occur throughout the world, providing innovators and entrepreneurs with additional opportunities to submit their innovations for competition and gather with professionals from all health sectors to form new collaborations.

ABOUT HITLAB^®

HITLAB^® is a healthcare innovation lab that helps leading organizations with the ideation, creation, evaluation, and diffusion of technology-based solutions to improve the quality and accessibility of healthcare worldwide.

Our scientific, multidisciplinary approach allows us to effectively investigate digital health research questions, providing stakeholders from all sectors of the global healthcare system with meaningful ideas and products, as well as an evidence base across numerous therapeutic and geographic areas.

HITLAB is committed to accelerating the diffusion of digital health impact through education across communities and continents. To learn about our latest activities, follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and visit www.hitlab.org.

ABOUT the HITLAB Innovators Summit^® and HITLAB World Cup^®

The HITLAB Innovators Summit^® brings together leaders in public health, medicine, technology, and design to discuss health issues and solutions in a three-day live event. The Summit offers a series of carefully curated talks, panels, and collaboration opportunities to engage the most creative minds in health and technology. The 2016 event focused on “Opportunities and Obstacles in Digital Health Diffusion.”

The HITLAB Innovators Summit culminates in the HITLAB World Cup^®, an international challenge of unparalleled diversity where innovators present original digital health solutions to pressing global healthcare challenges.