Consortium for Affordable Medical Technologies (CAMTech) organised a jugaad-a-thon, a medical technology hack-a-thon to drive innovation in reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health. The event was hosted by GE healthcare India.

The Jugaad-a-thon's non-stop "48 hours of innovation" brought together 250 engineers, doctors and entrepreneurs. After two days of around-the-clock work by participants and mentors, 34 new potential solutions were presented to a panel of judges - ranging from new tools for antenatal care to disruptive technologies for newborn asphyxia.

"The energy and level of innovative thinking in this hack-a-thon surpassed any expectation we had," said Ms Elizabeth Bailey, director, CAMTech. She continued, "Over these 48 hours, we saw clinical challenges drive innovative ideas, which then spawned new life-saving technologies for women and children in India. The Jugaad-a-thon was open innovation at its best."

Mr Vikram Damodaran, director, healthcare innovation, India and GE Healthcare South Asia said, "We have seen several new creative ideas in just 48 hours that can change the way we look at reproductive, maternal and infant care. It is a completely new experience for us and we believe co-creation of solutions can accelerate affordable healthcare innovation. We are very pleased to have been a part of this program led by CAMTech INDIA. We hope to do more 'Jugaad-a-thons' to promote open innovation and co-creation in healthcare industry."

The winners of the event was:

•Top Prize: Team "Baby Steps" received Rs 2,50,000 ($4,100) for developing a unique and integrated mobile app for early diagnosis of developmental delays in children across India.
•First Runner Up: Team "Pec Dia" received Rs 1,50,000 ($2,500) for developing a solution to diagnose Cephalopelvic Disproportion (CPD) in pregnancies after 37 weeks by any healthcare worker.
•Second Runner Up: Team "Pregmatic" received Rs 75,000 ($1,250) for the development of an affordable wearable device that reminds pregnant women about key milestones in pregnancy when they must see a medical professional.

All three of the cash prize winners also received three years of incubation support at the Mazumdar-Shaw Medical Center's Healthcare Technology Incubator.

There were also prizes awarded by three corporate sponsors. ABInBev championed the cause of road safety technologies for children. Covidien supported several clinical problems in need of innovation, including newborn asphyxia, fetal/maternal monitoring and post partum hemorrhage. And the Novartis Foundation challenged the Jugaad-a-thon participants to come up with new approaches to diagnosing Leprosy. Each winning team will also receive Rs 50,000 and ongoing support from the companies.

Additional prizes included in-kind support from Dayanda Sagar Institutions (incubation services), InnAccel (acceleration services), and the Wellcome Trust (fundraising and grant writing mentorship).