PICHEALTH

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  Prototype links

Inspiration

Many suffers from multiple types of acne but can never identify the specific types by simply searching Google with word descriptions. A referral to a dermatologist often takes months or even years, and many clinics have become very busy due to COVID-19. We noticed that there are apps that you can easily download, which identify specific plant types simply from taking a photo with your mobile device. Personally, we would have found it useful if there was an app that identified types of dermal problems such as acne, wound, and rashes that cannot be easily described through words. To make sure the technology is accessible for the general public, an app was the ideal choice.

What it does

There are three options once you have logged in or registered:

Scan/Take a Picture - this is the emphasis of our project which will be able to identify the type of wound, rash, or acne, and direct the user to its information page, including treatments. Once the user reaches the information page, they are given the option of three buttons: "Search" to find more information from a search engine about the dermal problem, "Browse Pictures" to see other people's picture of the same type of dermal problem, which allows users to check for similarities themselves, and finally "book an appointment" which allows the user to reserve an appointment for a visit at a clinic. The user will use the "book an appointment" feature depending on the severity of their condition.

Browse/Search - this allows the user to search for their specific dermal problem instead of taking a picture, or simply to use the app as a study guide for the types of dermal problems. Our library of dermal problems is sorted into categories for the users' convenience.

Book an appointment - this allows the user to book an appointment straight from the app's home screen.

How we built it

Our team worked from home virtually, which is what drew us to using Figma. Figma is a graphics editor and prototype software. Due to its collaborative features, it allowed us to synchronously view and edit the document at the same time.

Challenges we ran into

None of the team members had previous experience with Figma; as a result, everything was from scratch. There were many times when we ran into problems but were forced to continue working by ourselves due to the lack of mentors/support.

Haley, one of our teammates had to juggle her work shift and was unable to attend between 1-5 pm EST. This meant a delay in communication and a delay in the start of the project (because we believe that everybody's opinion should be heard and taken into careful consideration).

There were also a lot of communication delays due to the nature of virtual hackathons: teammates were often unable to check up upon others' work (ie no message reply) or to keep everybody motivated (ie lack of physical communication).

The hackathon ran in a different timezone, meaning the submission deadline was Monday at 3 am for EST. Since we are all students, we had to submit the project early in order to attend our early morning classes on the very same day.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Being able to finish the project was simply an accomplishment of itself. There were many times when we ran into problems that were unable to be solved simply from searching Google: since there was a lack of support, we felt stranded. For instance, our prototype refused to link altogether once, which essentially meant that the project would not be able to function at all. So to us, overcoming these barriers and finishing the project was a huge accomplishment.

What we learned

Most of our teammates became familiar with Figma after this hackathon. Through challenges and barriers, we learned how to communicate with each other effectively in the case of a virtual hackathon, which was to put to-do lists and do the assigned task until further notice (further notice meaning when a teammate comes back or when a teammate messages their concerns).

What's next for PICHEALTH

Reach out to different clinics for partnership: this will allow users to reserve appointments directly from the app.

Since this is a prototype, the next immediate plan is to develop it into an actual app (currently thinking of using flutter/dart).

Our 'library' will also need expansion: not only more acne, wound, and rash types, but also more dermal categories such as hives, psoriasis, rosacea, ichthyosis, vitiligo, etc.

Additional example pictures can be provided by the user, upon choice.

Machine learning will be involved to enable the identification of a specific dermal type through certain features. As we advance, we also hope to be able to differentiate between different stages of the same type.

Built With

• figma