meddit - Bringing Medical Communities Together
Inspiration
Dr. Bonnielin Swenorb from the JHU Eye Institute presented the problem of individuals with vision impairment struggling through daily life tasks without a proper social support system to guide them. She believed that accessible technology could help bridge the gap between these isolated populations to create online communities and virtual support groups.
What it does
meddit uses queries to match users with similar medical conditions, based on personal, medical, and preference data stored in a MongoDB database. The meddit app runs on Android, and employs speech-to-text and text-to speech features accessible to the visually impaired. meddit is designed with an easy-to-use, large font, and high contrast UI that targets accessibility. meddit users also have the option to share Epic medical data for more specific matching. *Note that personal data taken from Epic is limited for HIPAA compliance.
How I built it
We developed the prototype in Android Studio using Java. The user database that is generated from creating new accounts is deployed using mongoDB and supported with google cloud services. We also interface with Epic to streamline some components of the account registration process to reduce the amount of manual user input for accessibility reasons.
Challenges I ran into
The biggest issue is, of course, time. In 36 hours, we managed to build a basic prototype that demonstrates proof of concept. However, we were unable to deploy a query/matching algorithm due to the time needed for debugging and other important aspects of the app's development (like accessible UX).
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
Database is deployed; app is supported in an emulator; basic user creation works and UX is clear.
What I learned
Android app development basics; DB deployment using mongoDB Atlas and associated APIs; how to interface with Epic; UX design and implementation for apps.
What's next for meddit: Bringing Medical Communities Together
We would like to finish implementing the query/matching algorithm. In our ideal implementation, the medical condition entry would allow for other medical populations to benefit from the app as well. We would also like to get user feedback to improve the user experience and make sure we are addressing the key problems effectively.
Log in or sign up for Devpost to join the conversation.