At the recent staging of MEDICA, the world’s leading medical trade fair, in Düsseldorf, Germany, 15 development teams from all over the world competed in the MEDICA App COMPETITION - a challenge to create the best health app solution. The winner of this year’s MEDICA App COMPETITION (#6MAC17) is iSikCure from Kenya. Overall, 75 teams applied and a specialist jury selected 15 projects for the final round.

iSikCure seeks to pave the way to the healthcare system, specifically in Africa. “Although the Internet of Things is the current trending topic in the four corners of the globe, we are more focused on the Internet of People,” said Dr. Moka Lantum, Co-Founder of MicroClinic Technologies. The aim of this app is to get lifesaving medication to the places that need them most. Dr. Lantum explained that people in most African countries pay for their healthcare in cash. Twenty percent of households have no access to medicine or a doctor and iSikCure wants to change this. With this app, users pay the service providers who are on the app via cash, credit cards, credit notes for their self-regulating communities or MedCoins which can be obtained through compliance with treatment. iSikCure uses LinkedIn to find a doctor, TripAdvisor for scheduling and Amazon to purchase medical products. It is therefore a marketplace for anyone offering this type of healthcare service.

The second place in the MEDICA App COMPETITION went to the Air Smart Spirometer project, the first spirometer which is linked with a smartphone. The users can measure their lung capacity on their own. Max Ladow, Product Manager at NuvoAir, explained: “A spirometer test such as this one takes less than 30 seconds and means that lung function can be measured at home. The data can be shared with a doctor at the push of a button.”

Kaia, an application from Munich (Germany), took third place. It brings multidisciplinary therapies for back pain into the digital world. Maximilian Wühr, Head of Business Development at Kaia, remarked that patients wait around one and a half years for traditional multidisciplinary therapy which then lasts four weeks, consisting of a couple of weekly sessions for a few hours each time. Kaia is cheaper, therapy can begin right away and takes less than 15 minutes per day. Due to artificial intelligence, Kaia will soon support users in performing their exercises and help them to avoid potential errors while doing the exercises. Kaia is already available in computer format and should soon be available as an app. Mobility exercises reinforce the stabilizer muscles, stretching exercises help release tension and remove stress. Information modules explain the cause of the pain and demonstrate easy, effective ways to ease back pain. A Kaia Coach can be contacted directly in the app using the chat function.

The first place winner received Euro 2,000, second place Euro 1,000 and third place Euro 500. However, the opportunity to present their ideas to a large international professional audience at MEDICA 2017 was the most important element for all participants.

For further information about the App Competition: http://www.medica-tradefair.com/mac2.

MEDICA will return from November 12 - 15, 2018 in Düsseldorf, German. For further information on visiting or exhibiting at MEDICA 2018, contact Messe Düsseldorf North America, 150 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 2920, Chicago, IL 60601. Telephone: (312) 781-5180; Fax: (312) 781-5188; E-mail: info@mdna.com; Visit http://www.mdna.com; Follow us on twitter at http://twitter.com/Medical_MDNA