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Victoria Pueyo, ophthalmologist at the startup Aragonese DIVE Medical, has been the only Spanish representative in the technological panel on the use of artificial intelligence for children in Davos, where it has announced the TrackAI project in which Huawei collaborates.
The TrackAI project, for early detection of visual pathologies in children with a screening system supported by artificial intelligence (AI), attracted the attention of UNESCO and other institutions.
- Aragón has been present at the Davos 2020 World Economic Forum. The ophthalmologist from the startup Aragoneseto DIVE Medical, Victoria Pueyo, has participated in the panel on artificial intelligence to improve the quality of life of children organized by the Huawei company within the framework of the Davos Forum.
The ophthalmologist announced at this event TrackAI, a project in which startup Aragonese contributes its technology developed for the early detection of visual pathologies in children, which has joined Huawei's experience in mobile devices with artificial intelligence (AI) chips. The result of this collaboration is the combination of the DIVE Vision AI Screener portable device - developed by the Vision, Image and Neurodevelopment research group of the IIS Aragón, the I3A institute of the University of Zaragoza and the startup DIVE Medical-, and the Huawei P30 Pro smartphone.
The integration of these devices allows quickly detect the probability that a child has visual problems from 6 months of age through a simple visual examination that can be performed by teams without specialized training in ophthalmology. In this way, the patient can be referred to a specialist only if necessary.
The importance of this equipment goes beyond health. Being portable and designed so that anyone can use it, it facilitates maximum accessibility and Barriers to early diagnosis in primary care are eliminated, even in the most remote areas or communities of the world where there is no access to medical resources. Any professional can process data on their phone without even needing Wi-Fi.
A TECHNOLOGY WITH GREAT OPPORTUNITY FOR SOCIAL IMPACT
Participation in the Davos Forum “It is a very good opportunity for us, because it has allowed us to present TrackAI to relevant people in the field of technology for social purposes and social inclusion.””, stated Victoria Pueyo.
The ophthalmologist was the only Spanish representative on this panel of experts in which Ken Hu, Deputy Chairman and Rotating CEO at Huawei, who also presented a company project to help deaf children with reading, and Feng Chun Miao, Chief of the Unit for ICT in Education UNESCO.
After speaking at this event, “We were approached by people interested in collaborating and opening new projects related to TrackAI. UNESCO has told us that they are interested in the project. We have to see how we make it happen"added Victoria Pueyo, who is also a researcher at the Aragón Health Research Institute (IIS Aragón) and a member of the Ophthalmology Service at the Miguel Servet Hospital in Zaragoza.
Attendance at Davos has also been “an interesting experience on a personal level and for what it also implies for the project. receive the feedback of very relevant people in this field has been very positive. In the forum, many parallel meetings are held and experts from different fields participate. We have taken the opportunity to listen to them”, added the DIVE Medical ophthalmologist.
This device is an important advance in visual health. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that around 19 million children in the world have serious vision problems. Of these, between 70% and 80% could have been prevented or cured with early diagnosis. In developing countries, 60% of children who become blind at a young age may die within a year from complications related to blindness.
Currently, the device is in the clinical validation phase. “We hope it will be ready in the first half of 2020 to begin its implementation in international cooperation projects or visual screening programs in the second half of this year.. “We are already contacting people from other countries who are interested in using it within these programs or for research purposes.”
COMING SOON
The presentation in Davos is not the only one that has been made of TrackAI. Recently, DIVE Medical participated in the Huawei Connect in Shanghai (China) and the project is also scheduled to be announced at the next Mobile World Congress, which will be held in Barcelona from February 24 to 27. In addition, Marta Ortín, researcher at the Aragon Engineering Research Institute of the University of Zaragoza attached to IIS Aragón, will soon participate in a technological event in Brussels organized by Huawei.
About DIVE Medical:
DIVE Medical is a startup Aragonese whose activity focuses on the development and marketing of devices for the evaluation of visual function and help with the early diagnosis of visual problems in children and other non-cooperative patients.
La startup It is promoted by researchers from the IIS Aragón and the Aragón Engineering Research Institute of the University of Zaragoza.
The IIS Aragón is the Health Research Institute of the hospital complex formed by the teaching and university hospitals “Hospital Clínico Universitario Lozano Blesa”, “Hospital Universitario Miguel Servet” and Primary Health Care. The Government of Aragon, the University of Zaragoza and the Aragonese Institute of Health Sciences are associated with this hospital complex, through different legal instruments.
