June 17, 2019

Other challenges at the event were provided by IBM, Rafael Defense Systems, Magen David Adom, and Cybersafe.

A group of students at the Jerusalem College of Technology (JCT) won a prize for designing a wireless oxygen saturation monitor for infants as part of the second annual women’s hackathon at the college’s Machon Tal campus last week.
The challenge, presented by Intel and Alyn Children’s Hospital, was to create a more comfortable way to monitor oxygen levels in infants’ bloodstream, as opposed to the commonly used device which has proven uncomfortable for children, explained Hadass Wittow, a third-year computer science student at JCT who was part of the winning team.

Typically, the device is clipped to a finger and attached with wires, but the newly developed product will allow for wireless monitoring attached to an infant’s toe and part of a special sock which will be much more comfortable, she said.
The device was designed as a part of the college’s annual “Hack@Tal,” a 44-hour hackathon in which more than 100 women participated, ranging from Modern Orthodox to ultra-Orthodox.
“It was really amazing to be able to take this thing from zero, from just a challenge presented, and develop this tremendous product that can create real change and help a lot of people,” said Wittow, adding that she and her team only slept for four out of the 44 hours.
The second-place prize at the competition was awarded to a team of women who used machine learning to automatically detect the images of patients and blur them, which enables organizations and hospitals to protect the privacy of their patients.
“It’s very challenging, I’m very tired, but it’s a lot of fun and I feel like I’m really accomplishing something,” said Esti David, a third-year computer science student and mother of three.

See full article: https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/jerusalem-students-design-new-medical-technology-for-infants-at-hackathon-592697