UBORA design competition 2020

OPEN SOURCE MEDICAL TECHNOLOGIES FOR INTEGRAL MANAGEMENT OF COVID-19 PANDEMIA AND INFECTIOUS DISEASE OUTBREAKS

PURPOSE

UBORA International Design Competitions focus on the collaborative development of open source and innovative medical technologies for global health concerns. Considering current global emergency with the COVID-19 pandemia and the increasing risk of infectious disease outbreaks in our globalized world, the UBORA 2020 International Design Competition concentrates on technological solutions aimed at providing an integral management for present pandemia and for eventual future outbreaks. These solutions, in the form of well-documented medical device projects and shared as open-source technologies through the UBORA online infrastructure (https://platform.ubora-biomedical.org/), have the potential of supporting healthcare professionals in the ongoing emergency and of alleviating patients suffering the consequences of current and future outbreaks. Design according to EU regulation (MDR 745/2017 & 746/2017) and taking into account internationally recognized standards is expected, so as to guarantee patients’ safety and to support technology transfer to society.

AWARDS AND CATEGORIES

An integral approach is needed to bring under control global disease outbreaks and minimize their impacts: diagnostic technologies, monitoring tools, life supporting equipment and other innovative technologies, required for supporting patients physical and mental health states in quarantine periods. In consequence, the UBORA 2020 International Design Competition sponsors the following key actuation areas:

Open source medical devices for safe diagnosis of COVID-19.
Open source medical devices for remote monitoring of COVID-19 patients evolution.
Open source life supporting technologies and hospital equipment.
Open source affective medical technologies for helping isolated patients and families.

Four prizes of 500€ (one per key actuation area) will be awarded to the most innovative open source medical device projects developed and documented through the UBORA online infrastructure (https://platform.ubora-biomedical.org/).

PARTICIPATION CONDITIONS

Anyone can participate, both in a team or as a single developer.

Participants should conceive and design an innovative open source medical technology solution for COVID-19 pandemia or for similar infectious disease outbreaks. The projects should be prepared with the support of the UBORA online infrastructure and documented through it, in order to promote technology transfer to society.

SUBMISSION PROCEDURE

Submission procedure involves the following steps:

Registration of the team and creation of the medical device project in the UBORA online infrastructure.
Communication of the decision to participate ([email protected]), after which a mentor for the project will be assigned.
Development and documentation of the medical device project through the UBORA online infrastructure, completing the stages: WP1 “Medical need and product specification”, WP2 “Conceptual design” and WP3 “Design and (eventual) prototyping”.

Important dates:

Steps 1 & 2: Due on 30^th April 2020.
Step 3: Due on 31^st May 2020.
Communication of winners: 15^th June 2020.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

The evaluation will be based on the following criteria:

Health impact and relation to the proposed topics (3 points).
Technology-process-system innovation and viability (2 points).
Documentation in the UBORA infrastructure, aimed at replicability (5 points).