A team of students from the University of Washington is among the global finalists in Microsoft’s annual Imagine Cup after putting their imaginations — and technical skills — to work in hopes of finding better diagnostic and treatment methods for Parkinson’s disease.
Tremor Vision is a web-based tool that seizes on the time- and cost-saving advantages of telehealth by helping caregivers detect early-onset Parkinson’s and track patient progress via a test administered through a touchscreen device.
The team behind the tech is made up of Janae Chan and Robert Minneker, both fifth-year seniors studying bioengineering and computer science at UW, and Drew Gallardo, a fourth-year senior studying informatics.
They are among six Imagine Cup finalists who will compete for the top prize during Microsoft Build, taking place virtually this year, May 19-21.
Imagine Cup, now in its 18th year, is Microsoft’s global technology competition for student developers. The goal is to empower students to create what’s next using Microsoft Azure and other technologies, while giving them the opportunity to receive mentorship, win cash and other prizes, and develop skills in business and technology. Microsoft added judging criteria focused on accessibility, diversity and inclusion this year.
Chan said the idea for Tremor Vision was born out of UW’s annual hackathon last October, where she and others were throwing around ideas.
“I personally have friends with grandparents that have Parkinson’s, so that’s come up in conversation before,” Chan said. “And Rob and I interned at a company last summer and Parkinson’s was something they were building apps for. So that was always in the back of our minds, and we found something that wasn’t being addressed in the Parkinson’s realm.”
The team was also motivated by Gallardo’s personal story, growing up in Eastern Washington and living with his disabled brother. His family faced major challenges, he told Microsoft, in dealing with the distance needed to travel for doctor’s appointments.
Tremor Vision seeks to eliminate that need for routine clinic visits. The idea centers around the digitization of the widely used “spiral test,” a method for detecting tremors in a patient as that person is tasked with drawing a simple spiral.
“Because we know that it already works, we wanted to improve upon [the test] by utilizing the technology that exists,” Chan said.
Using Microsoft Azure Cognitive Services, MATLAB, and Microsoft Visual Studio, Tremor Vision tracks patient progress and allows for more frequent collection of data without the need for office visits, in addition to providing early detection.
The team is still developing and improving upon the app, but has its sights set on clinical trials. They’ve been talking with doctors and improving their test suite. The aim is to coordinate with an electronic health record provider that could help Tremor Vision reach a large market and get the tech integrated into the lives of Parkinson’s patients.
“One thing that we’re trying to emphasize is creating a tool to support physicians and doctors and not replacing their role and expertise,” Chan said. “I think the phrase ‘clinical decision support’ is really a key term. We’re giving them more data to make a diagnosis.”
The 2020 Image Cup featured tens of thousands of competitors from over 170 countries, and was held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The final pitch competition for the world championship will be virtual as well, as will all of Microsoft Build.
“We have really strong competition,” Chan said. “I think we have a lot of good points to sell and it’s definitely something that needs to be addressed, whether it’s Parkinson’s specifically or just making a lot of tests more accessible. I think this is a start. So, we’re feeling good.”