Innovative device vs dengue tops Smart SWEEP tilt

MANILA, Philippines - A fast and highly accurate dengue-detecting device developed by students of the Bulacan State University (BSU) bagged the grand prize in the recent seventh SWEEP Innovation and Excellence Awards of Smart Communications Inc.

The other top winning devices can detect ship overloading and automate farm irrigation, developed by Holy Cross of Davao College and Batangas State University, respectively.

The “3D: Dengue Detecting Device” is unique because it is the only one that uses an image processing technology, noted Arlene Romasanta, one of this year’s judges, who also acknowledged that “it is not easy to detect dengue.”

The accuracy of detection “is high compared to the manual tests that local health facilities are currently employing,” said Romasanta, a senior science research specialist of the Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCIEETRD).

The University of Baguio’s “Self-sustaining Street Lights with Wireless Power Monitoring System” was awarded a special prize for innovation, a first in the history of the Smart Wireless Engineering Education Program (SWEEP) Awards.

Smart conducts the annual search for the best wireless applications developed by partner schools under SWEEP, an industry-academe partnership that seeks to help raise the level of technology and engineering education in the country.

This year’s awards, which adopted the theme “Empowering Communities through Wireless Technologies,” drew 132 entries nationwide. The award ceremonies were held at SMX Convention Center at Mall of Asia.

The top three winners received P500,000, P300,000, and P150,000 in cash, respectively; their schools will get the same amounts in the form of grants.

Besides Romasanta, the other judges this year included Smart’s Strategic Business Development Group head Alex Ibasco; Broadband, Internet and Data Services Department head Gio Bacareza; and Network and Platforms Services Division Department head Teddy Leonardo. Joining them was Hapinoy sari-sari store franchise founder Mark Ruiz.

(From left) Temmie Amarante, Bobby Carmelotes and Jamaica Angcay of Holy Cross of Davao College make up the team behind ‘Overload Monitoring for Medium-sized Commercial Marine Transport in Davao City’ which came in second.

BSU’s dengue-detecting device uses a microscope, a camera phone, and a digital analyzer machine that automatically counts blood platelets and enables examinees to instantly determine if they are positive for dengue or not. Dengue tests in hospitals currently provide results within 24 hours.

Project team leader Laurence Louie Lugue said his team invented the Platelet Counter software, which is compatible with the Smart Bro platform, to count actual platelets. They intend to pilot 3D among barangay health centers and public hospitals in Malolos City, Bulacan.

Ultimately, they hope to bring down the number of misdiagnosed cases and fatalities, in collaboration with the Department of Health and the DOST, Lugue added.

If commercialized, 3D can cost less than P20,000, according to Lugue’s estimation — a far cry from the P1-million price tag of a hematology analyzer now used by major hospitals for platelet analysis.

The first runner-up, “Overload Monitoring for Medium-sized Commercial Marine Transport in Davao City” of the Holy Cross of Davao College, can help detect marine vessel overloading through the installation of “overloading sensors” in medium-sized commercial passenger ships.

“The sensors automatically detect overloading and transmit the information in real-time to a microcontroller that is interfaced with the cellular phone network, for processing,” said project team leader Bobby Jay Carmelotes.

If the microcontroller (connected to a CPU with GSM capabilities) confirms that the vessel is overloaded, it sends an SMS alert via Smart to the Philippine Coast Guard and the Maritime Industry Authority.

The team hopes that their overloading detection device will eventually lessen, if not eliminate, maritime disasters in the country.

Carmelotes said they want to test vessels plying the 15-minute run from Davao to the Island Garden City of Samal (Igacos). Once fully tested, the product can be made commercially available to owners or operators of commercial passenger vessels in Davao.

The second runner-up, “Smart Farmbihira” of the Batangas State University, can irrigate farms by targeting plant roots, using an automated low-pressure water source.

Farmers can type keywords corresponding to specific tasks into their mobile phones and send the message, to trigger a command. For example, typing “TSET” sets the duration of automated watering, while “SHUT” halts the system operation.

Automated watering is triggered when the soil sensor “detects the need to start the irrigation,” said project team leader Josephine Medina. Irrigation is done continuously and automatically through “pores in the drip tapes/hose, targeting the exact root of the crops.”

This system is “useful in areas with limited water supply” and “ideal for high-value crops that need monitoring,” Medina added.

The team demonstrated their prototype on a 15-meter by one-meter lettuce bed and spent only P5,200 for the entire set-up. It was also tested in a farm in Lipa City, Batangas for lettuce production and proved more efficient than conventional irrigation and water sprinkler methods.

Romasanta said, “With this project, the farmers can spend the time they would spend on irrigation to focus on other areas of farming. It will increase their productivity and make their lives easier.”

The other finalists included Ateneo de Naga University (Community-driven Social Welfare and Emergency Response Information System), the University of Southeastern-Philippines (Hydrogen-Fueled Electric Generator), the Ateneo de Zamboanga University (Automated Load Retailer), the Batangas State University (Smart Power Vendo), the Mapua Institute of Technology (Flood Alert System via Smart SMS Technology), and the University of San Carlos (Preventive Illegal Logging Monitoring Endeavor or PRIME).