Otitis Media (OM), more commonly known as a severe ear infection, is a medical condition that is caused by a variety of pathogens and affects 70% of all children under the age of three. Currently, most ear infections are treated with multiple rounds of antibiotics. With the onset of antibiotic-resistant pathogens, this type of treatment may be inefficient, costly, and time consuming. A more effective treatment is known as Tympanocentesis, a medical procedure used for diagnosing and treating ear infections. The need for the procedure is rising along with emerging bacterial resistance, but no fully-integrated device for administering the treatment exists. Current methods involve using a spinal needle tap, fed through the viewing window of an otoscope, to puncture the ear drum, which is an extremely unstable process and is oftentimes avoided by pediatricians. This project will develop a novel, single-handed, integrated, and ergonomic device that can perform tympanocentesis with existing disposable materials commonly found at the doctor’s office.
Despite decades of child nutrition initiatives, the rates of malnutrition throughout the developing world have remained high, and there is a need to explore new strategies to address this problem. Among the strategies to reduce malnutrition, there has been little exploration of the role of severe tooth decay—which is an infectious disease and the most prevalent chronic disease worldwide, currently affecting 50-95% of young children in developing countries. Over the past 2 decades, with rapid modernization and increased marketing and consumption of non-nutritious processed foods such as candy and soda, Vietnam and other developing countries face serious emerging risks to children’s oral health and nutrition. This Big Ideas project aims to solve two global health epidemics—severe early childhood tooth decay and malnutrition—using simple, low-cost interventions: fluoride dental varnish, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and oral health/nutrition education to improve the health and well-being of children in areas that currently lack access to these resources.
The Suitcase Clinic is a student-run organization that operates three drop-in centers for the homeless and low income community of the East Bay and Alameda County. This project will expand the Clinic’s services to include dental care. By addressing the dental care needs of underserved communities, A Healthy Smile will instill newfound confidence in clients. Dental Services to be provided include comprehensive and preventative care, cleanings and surgical extractions, dental x-rays, root platings, fillings, oral hygiene instruction and supplies, and 5 anterior root canals. The Dental Service is driven to provide more comprehensive services through the belief that adequate dental care is a right of all persons, regardless of their ability to pay.
(Note: This project originally won in the Big Ideas “Social Justice & Community Engagement” category.)
Diarrheal disease from drinking unsafe water is one of the leading causes of death in Mexico. Today, millions of Mexicans in low-income communities are still at high risk of waterborne diseases because of inadequate water infrastructure and insufficient water quality control. In particular, safe water remains unavailable to those who cannot afford commercially sold bottled water. Water technology like the UV Tube, developed through collaboration between UC Berkeley and Fundacion Cantaro Azul, is an effective means to secure water quality at home. Nuestra Agua, a new social franchise designed by UC Berkeley students, will expand on the UV Tube project and offer a local, affordable, and reliable option for people who need to purchase safe water as well as an economic opportunity for local entrepreneurs.
(Note: This project originally won in the Big Ideas “Social Entrepreneurship” category.)
Currently, about 140 million rural mountain inhabitants lack access to an improved water source. Consequently, there is an urgent need to find an efficient solution to supply safe water to these populations by further developing the delivery of piped water. Piped water is necessary to conveniently supply the water volume required to meet personal and household hygiene and consumption needs. Unfortunately, willingness to pay for water is traditionally low, and sustainable financing of the necessary water supply infrastructure is known to be very challenging. Power for Water will overcome this obstacle by implement an innovative combination of policy and technology. Specifically, the project combines a proven infrastructure synergy and an efficient public-private partnership to sustainably address the lack of access to safe water and electricity in rural mountainous regions of the world. By overcome the technological and institutional barriers currently preventing millions of people from access to clean, reliable water, this project will improve the lives of millions of people living in remote mountain regions.
Dengue virus causes the most common mosquito-borne viral disease affecting humans, with 3 billion people at risk for infection and an estimated 50 million cases each year. The goal of this project is to prevent severe illness and death from dengue through the use of a portable method in the field to identify the most at-risk patients. The first part of the project will develop risk scores to predict which patients presenting with fever in dengue-endemic areas are infected with dengue virus and of those infected, who will progress to develop severe dengue. In order for the risk scores to be used effectively in the field, the project team will also develop a mobile application for the iPhone that will enable any health professional to instantly calculate a patient’s risk score. The iPhone risk score application will enable physicians to distinguish dengue cases from cases of other illnesses that cause fever, as well as mild dengue cases from severe dengue cases, so they can provide patients with the appropriate medical care sooner. Additionally, it will help physicians prioritize the treatment of dengue cases in lowresource settings, where medical care and supplies are limited.
Diarrheal disease from drinking unsafe water is one of the leading causes for death in Mexico. Today, millions of Mexicans in low-income communities are still at high risk of waterborne diseases because of inadequate water infrastructure and insufficient water quality control. In particular, safe water remains unavailable to those who cannot afford commercially sold bottled water. Point of use water technology like the UV Tube, developed through a collaboration between UC Berkeley and Fundacion Cantaro Azul, is an effective means to secure water quality at home. Nuestra Agua, a new social franchise designed by UC Berkeley students, will expand on the UV Tube project and offer a local, affordable, and reliable option for people who need to purchase safe water and an economic opportunity for local entrepreneurs. (Note: This project originally won in the Big Ideas “Safe Water Enterprise” category.)
Malaria is a disease endemic to regions of South America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South Asia that continues to do serious humanitarian and economic damage to developing countries. A new diagnostic tool (the MOT device) has recently been invented that would improve access to accurate malaria diagnosis at low costs. To collect information on the best way to bring these devices to the communities that need it, we propose a fact-finding pilot program to provide MOTmalaria diagnosis and treatment centers to 25,000 people in Southern Benin. (Note: This project originally won in the Big Ideas “Science, Technology, and Engineering Policy” category.)
Rising healthcare spending is a serious issue for the United States. Electronic medical records are seen as an effective way to solve the problem, however they are difficult to implement. We propose the development of personal portable healthcare record smart cards and a corresponding framework to simplify maintenance and transfer of patient records as an incremental step towards a nationalized electronic records system. (Note: This project originally won in the Big Ideas “Science, Technology, and Engineering Policy” category.)
