Pacisafe

Inspiration

According to UNICEF, one of the leading cause of deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa is malaria, which accounted for 274,000 deaths of children under the age of 5, many of which are infants, in 2019. This translates to one child under 5 dying of malaria every 2 minutes. One of the prominent symptoms of malaria is fever. Thus there needs to be an inexpensive, reusable, and accessible way to detect fevers, one of the early signs of malaria, of infants in Sub-Saharan Africa.

What it does

A pacifier with a temperature sensor that contains a detachable silicone nipple that can be cleaned through boiling along with a pre programmed voice to notify temperature state. Temperature sensor emits flashing light on ring of pacifier once infant temperature is over 38°C. Pacifier would have two “modes”: If temperature is above 38°C, the pacifier will say “elevated temperature” and flash red; If temp. is around 37°C degrees Celsius, it will say “normal”.

How we built it

Bluetooth temperature sensor pacifier for hospitals. Utilizing Amazon Web Services to send a push notification to the user’s phone when the baby’s temperature is above 38°C degrees. Low-cost Temperature Sensor: LM61 Analog Temperature Sensors; TMP36 Analog Temperature Sensors.

Challenges we ran into

There were many challenges we ran into such as: Improving consumer compliance and societal acceptance, making sure the product is low cost and accessible, and determining the target population for the product.