The Agha Khan University (AKU) successfully conducted their first-ever medical hackathon, the MIT Grand Hack 2016 inspired, “CCIT Hack 2016” at its Karachi campus.
Hosted by an open forum the Critical Creative Innovative Thinking (CCIT) and directed at finding innovative solutions in emergency conditions, the event spanned over three days and concluded this Monday.
The hackathon worked on finding new solutions to challenges being faced in the emergency rooms and attracted many experts from the medical sciences field. Engineers also threw in to apply technological innovations to the cause. About 80 participants teamed up in eleven teams and pitched their ideas in front of the juristic panel.
The co-chairperson of the event organizing committee Muhammad Taha Anwar mentioned that the hackathon will change the traditional thinking and will bring creativity to the approach. Former ER AKUH head Dr Junaid Razzak were also present and stressed the importance of innovative ER technologies saying, “Traditionally, healthcare systems are hierarchical, risk averse and slow to change. The lack of innovation, especially in environments with few resources, has not delivered positive healthcare outcomes for the majority”.
Team HistorER won the medical hackathon with the ‘Best Idea‘ award while the Team JackED stood runner-up. Team HistorER provided a solution to save time in ER by using electronic technology. The team used cards featuring QR code to record medical history of a patient which upon scanning could give ample knowledge of the vital sign history of the patient. The team JackED developed a prototype ER gown to be used instead of the standard gowns by the medical staff during an ECG.
The first-ever hackathon of AKU marks the new horizons of medical innovations. The hackathons have proved to be beneficial in improving engineering, and problem solving skills of the students. A recent study showed that about 76% of employees weren’t happy with the quality of Pakistani graduates which indicates the need of hackathons.
Source — The Express Tribune
