Eight MIT startup teams are building health care prototypes to win $10,000

Right now, 20 teams are toiling away, turning ideas into prototypes and setting their sights on a win at the Feb. 10 MIT $100K Accelerate competition.

Eight of those teams want to make health care work better.

Astraeus Technologies is creating the L-CARD, a low-cost, smartphone-aided breath sensor for detecting lung cancer.

Cervix Savers is developing a fast, low-cost device to identify cervical pre-cancer and provide screening to more than 8 million women in Kenya.

EarID is creating an easy-to-use tool to improve diagnosis of ear infections and allow doctors to practice “watchful waiting,” reducing over-prescription of antibiotics.

Good SIRS is building a device that prevents sepsis by removing chemical signaling agents from the bloodstream. The team won the MIT $100K Pitch competition in October.

Herald is creating software to help medical providers deal with data overload by creating crowd-sourced “protocols” that manage how providers interact with patient information in real time.

O2U is building an oxygen delivery system designed for use in Africa, where it must withstand high temperatures and humidity, have low maintenance requirements, and be monitored remotely.

PharmaCube is creating new technology to 3-D print pills that contain multiple drugs, with a focus on helping heart attack patients who must take multiple drugs with shifting dosages.

Sidekick Solutions – VOXDOCS is developing a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant smartphone app to help doctors access and update electronic medical records through voice commands.

“There is still a lot of untapped potential with innovation and entrepreneurship in the medical sector,” Monique Guimond, MBA ’17, executive director of the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition said. “MIT is the right place for this because of its leading faculty and state of the art research facilities, as well as the support of the greater Boston community, which is a world hub for medical discovery.”

All 20 semifinalist teams receive a $1,000 expense account and legal and venture mentorship while they work. The competition will be narrowed to eight teams on Feb. 3. Finalists will present before judges and an audience Feb. 10 in Building 10-250 at 7 p.m. The winning team will receive $10,000. An audience choice prize of $2,000 will also be awarded. Register to attend.

Launch—the final MIT $100K competition—takes place May 11 and awards the $100,000 grand prize. The application period opens in late February.