Health

Health

Duration
2015 - 2017
Phase Awarded
Prize Purse
$10 Million

Designed to empower individuals to monitor their own health, this prize challenged teams to create a portable device that could diagnose multiple medical conditions and track vital signs—no clinic required.

Impact

10M+ low-cost COVID-19 tests deployed worldwide

8M people reached through ChromaCode’s platform, powering 1.5% of all U.S. PCR tests during Omicron

1,400+ patents filed or issued by competing teams, advancing global diagnostic innovation

Winner

Final Frontier Medical Devices’ DxtER used AI and sensors to track vital signs and diagnose up to 34 health conditions in real time, empowering individuals to manage their health anywhere, without a medical facility.

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Sponsors

Sponsors fund the prize journey from bold idea to breakthrough—shaping each competition, supporting global teams, and accelerating solutions that scale. Their backing powers impact that lasts well beyond the prize.

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Partners

Partners play a hands-on role in our prizes—co-designing competitions, supporting operations, and helping scale solutions with their expertise, resources, and global reach.

Barrier

Access to healthcare was uneven. Millions lacked timely diagnoses due to geography, cost, or overloaded systems. People needed tools to take charge of their health without depending solely on clinics or professionals.

Breakthrough

The winning breakthrough solution empowered people to monitor their health and diagnose common conditions at home. Using mobile sensors and AI, these tools delivered fast, accurate insights, bringing clinical-quality care into people's hands.

About the Prize

The $10M Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE was a global competition to reinvent personal healthcare. Inspired by the iconic medical tricorder from Star Trek, the prize challenged teams to build a portable, consumer-friendly device to diagnose disease and continuously monitor vital signs—without requiring a medical staff or a clinical setting.

To win, teams had to demonstrate accurate, real-time diagnosis of 13 core health conditions, from diabetes to pneumonia, plus capture five vital signs—including blood pressure, heart rate, and respiratory rate. Solutions needed to be compact, easy to use, and powered by intelligent software capable of delivering actionable information to patients and clinicians alike.

Final Frontier Medical Devices, a family-run startup, won the prize with their DxtER device. Using AI and non-invasive sensors, DxtER could monitor, analyze, and diagnose dozens of conditions, sharing results with healthcare providers on demand. The solution wasn’t just science fiction come to life; it was a step toward radically decentralized, patient-led healthcare.

The Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE helped kick-start a movement toward consumer health tech—one where everyday people can manage their health with the same confidence and precision previously limited to clinical care.

Prize Schedule

Launched in 2012, the competition concluded in 2017. After rigorous testing and clinical trials, Final Frontier Medical Devices was awarded the top prize for DxtER—a mobile diagnostic platform that brought personalized healthcare into reality.

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