2015 OHI/O Hackathon Finalist: Team Schedule 4

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Another top 10 finalist, Team Schedule 4, made up of ECE student Ian Hansborough, and fellow engineering majors Trey Hakanson, Allen White and Greg Miller, won the “Most Technically Challenging” award.

Hansborough explained how they reverse engineered the bottom of an Apple watch from materials they found at Radio Shack, in order to create a more robust pulse oximeter.

“For those of you not familiar, it’s basically using infrared light to detect certain substances in the blood,” he said.

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In this case, Hansborough said, the device measures oxygen levels in the blood at the wrist, in combination with a piece that attaches to the finger documenting pulse. The sensor then creates a real-time graph visible on a website or mobile app.

“You could eliminate the need for diabetics to ever have to do those invasive and annoying finger pricks that they have to do right now to get good glucose readings,” Hansborough said. “In addition, that real-time data will be invaluable in preventing early stages of Type 2 diabetes, which is almost always reversible if caught early.”

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Hansborough said their innovation has other uses as well, such as detecting cholesterol levels, blood alcohol content, sickle cell anemia and more.