Team CLOUD DX
Cloud DX is an advanced group of programmers, software architects, biomedical engineers and entrepreneurs from Canada with an eye for creating a unique wearable device.
Team CLOUD DX
Cloud DX is an advanced group of programmers, software architects, biomedical engineers and entrepreneurs from Canada with an eye for creating a unique wearable device. Their tricorder, the Vitaliti, is part lifestyle monitor and part medical tool – all users have access to data like their heart and respiration rates, core body temperature, posture index, sleep cycles, and even fitness information like the number of steps taken and calories burned in a given time period. The necklace and cuff also record four channels of data including a pulse wave (sphygmogram), two-lead electrocardiogram, pulse oxygen and temperature; from there, proprietary cloud-based algorithms take over to calculate physiological parameters – blood pressure, pulse rate, arrhythmia detection and characterization, cardiac decoupling, blood oxygen saturation, and augmentation index. The results are available instantly on any phone or tablet running the associated app, but can also be stored and retrieved in the cloud so that users can do even more with the data
That’s not all, though – Cloud DX has also partnered with LRE Medical GmbH (Oceanside, CA, USA) and Cortex Design Inc. (Toronto, ON, Canada) to develop a portable desktop in vitro diagnostic platform that can run advanced assays on samples of patients’ blood, urine or saliva. The diagnostic tool that ultimately made it to the XPRIZE finals includes the team’s FDA-cleared Pulsewave health monitoring technology, specialized Cloud Diagnostics software architecture, Vitaliti portable chromatography, and a proprietary user interface.
Team leader Sonny Kohli is no stranger to lofty goals – not only is he currently a practicing physician at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital and an assistant clinical professor of medicine at McMaster University, he’s also a former astronaut candidate with the Canadian Space Agency (CSA). To make his bid for the stars, Kohli studied at the International Space University (ISU), trained as a flight surgeon with the Canadian Forces, and earned a CSA scholarship to NASA’s Johnson Space Center and Wyle Laboratories. While at ISU, he helped to deploy the Image Reversal in Space experiment on the International Space Station, examining how the brain perceives two- and three-dimensional images in zero gravity.
The rest of Cloud DX is as impressive as its leader. As part of Biosign Technologies Inc. (Mississauga, ON, Canada), they achieved FDA clearance for their most recent product after only 97 days, significantly shorter than the average 137-day approval time. Because Cloud DX is already an experienced medical device manufacturer, the team is optimistic about their entry into the competition – and Kohli has a few words of wisdom to share about the competition itself. “The Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE will ignite a wave of innovation around the concept of remote diagnostics,” he says, “but the technology developed also needs to be accepted by physicians. The winning team will have to demonstrate that the data they generate can be trusted – then the benefits of this digital revolution will truly give the consumer a role in their own healthcare.”
While obtaining degrees in biology from the University of Alberta and biochemistry from Penn State College of Medicine, I worked as a freelance science and medical writer. I was able to hone my skills in research, presentation and scientific writing by assembling grants and journal articles, speaking at international conferences, and consulting on topics ranging from medical education to comic book science. As much as I’ve enjoyed designing new bacteria and plausible superheroes, though, I’m more pleased than ever to be at Texere, using my writing and editing skills to create great content for a professional audience.
